Slow Burn
by Pheonie
Summary: A frog will jump out of boiling water, yes. But subject that frog to water that oh so slowly increases in temperature... and it will stay. Such is the creeping nature of love. Let's just hope that the poor frog, or rather, Kurapika, doesn't get burned. Kuroro/Kurapika Slash.
1. The Bar

Hello everyone! I know I am a super sporadic authoress, but here is my newest addiction: HunterxHunter! I love literally all the characters in it, so here's the first chapter to a Kurapika/Kuroro fic. They are seriously hard to write because they hate each other so much, but I really do try. This story really doesn't follow a particular premise or plot- one that I can give away at any rate, but it will stick to canon as closely as possible. At least for now. I'm really rusty, so please let me know as well what you guys think. ;)

-x-x-x-

Staring straight into the eyes of the Kurta made Kuroro aware of just how beautiful those orbs were. He had forgotten their sheen and their intensity. His memories of the Kurta he had slaughtered and the eyes he had stolen were dull and dead. The recent re-acquaintance with the Eyes being sold in the Auction had restored his memory somewhat, but even the most magnificent of the scarlet hues paled in comparison to Kurapika's. He didn't want to wax poetic about Kurapika's eyes, but if he were to search for another beautiful thing for which to compare Kurapika's eyes to, he would choose a diamond. Multi-faceted. Ever-a-gleam. A cut above the rest. But even then, insufficient for comparison.

His appreciation of the blond's eyes did not go unnoticed. Kurapika's lips were in a straight, unforgiving line, and he looked unamused and fiercely uncomfortable. He turned toward the window of the airship where they were waiting for Pakunoda in order to break eye contact.

Kuroro resisted a small smile despite the circumstances. Kurapika was so young. So intelligent, thoughtful, and warily calm in most cases, but Kuroro could tell that he had an easily offended sensibility that was untested by experience. It would be easy for someone like Kuroro to push the right buttons.

"Looks like you were wrong." Kurapika remarked, and despite the chains restricting him, they relaxed enough for him to respond. Kuroro wasn't sure why he was suddenly striking up a conversation.

"About what?" He would indulge him, and he would never turn down a chance to potentially psychologically turn the tables on his captor.

"About your spider. It seems as they the legs are not so willing to abandon the head after all." He nodded out the window and with a sinking heart Kuroro saw Pakunoda walking in the distance. Alone. He felt hot and cold all at once. He had thought Paku would come with all the other members in a blaze of fire- to strike down the chain assassin… for it was clear as day that the chain assassin had a major weakness. He was not dedicated enough to his revenge. He would place his friends above revenge if he had to. _So Pakunoda, you should have come with the rest of the spider and destroyed him! He wouldn't have killed me… not if he valued his friends more._

"I have no value as a hostage," he repeated simply.

"We'll see. Your subordinates have the right to choose for themselves." Kurapika said curtly. There was a certain tone in his voice that suggested to Kuroro that Kurapika already made up his mind about what his subordinates would in fact do. And it made him clench his teeth in fear. Fear for his spider, fear for his comrades. Fear for their lives. He would never let this be shown to the chain assassin however. He needed to do his part in putting him off his game. Do his best in making it easier on his subordinates to overcome this newest adversary. So he smiled. Big. Wide. Relaxed. Challenging.

"How old are you?" If Kuroro read his opponent correctly, any personal questions would have the Kurta spitting fire in wariness or reluctantly answering a civil question out of politeness. Either way would suit his needs nicely. He wouldn't, however, be able to ignore the man he had pursued for so long.

Kurapika looked predictably uncomfortable and wary- like any and all questions- even the harmless ones- were traps. "That's none of your business." He hissed. He kept his eyes on Pakunoda's approach in the distance.

"Come on now. It's not a difficult or dangerous question." Kuroro cajoled. "I'm honestly curious."

A look crossed Kurapika's face that managed to convey very well, _I have no interest in satisfying your curiosity. _

"Can I guess?" Kuroro asked instead. He knew from experiences that people were more likely to correct others more than they like to talk about themselves. "You look about 15 years old," he said seriously, purposefully guessing wrong.

Kurapika twitched in offense. The 19 year old didn't think he looked like a 15 year old _thankyouverymuch._ "You're wrong." He answered shortly. It was clear that he thought it was going to be the end of the conversation.

"Wrong?" Kuroro sounded surprised. Then he sounded thoughtful. "Does that mean you're 14?"

Kurapika sputtered. "_No. _And stop asking me."

"…13? Explains how cute you look. Must not have hit puberty yet."

Kurapika didn't know what to say. It was clear what was going on now. The damned spider was trying to make him uncomfortable! And it was working. Prisoners were supposed to be silent and wary of pissing off their captors. They were supposed to be worried about their lives and the lives of their friends. They weren't supposed to be this relaxed and they weren't supposed to openly taunt their captor's appearance. He took a deep breath.

"Don't be an idiot. I'm 19." He thought conceding a little would shut him up. It was a testament to Kurapika's innate compassion and moral compass that he didn't even consider violence as a way to cow the head of the spider into silence. Deep inside, he was already quite ashamed that while in the car, he had already given the mother of all punches to the helpless and bound spider for pissing him off. He was supposed to be in control, not let his (infamous) temper get the best of him. Leorio had been the one to bring him back to his senses.

"19." The spider paused as if to consider it, eyes boring into Kurapika's. It was unnerving. "Still so young."

"I bet I'm not much younger than you." Kurapika fired back. The spider head did look very young up close.

"26." The spider answered easily. "Quite a bit older I should think."

Kurapika stared. It was strange, suddenly. To consider the head of the spider with an.. _age._ Ages were so.. non-spidery? Human? Or something like that. It spoke of mortality. It spoke of both youthfulness and oldness. And in this case, it told Kurapika exactly how old the spider was when he massacred his clan… _19._ The same age Kurapika was now. He was 12 when the massacre happened… 7 years ago. And while he felt familiar anger and fury pulse in his eyes like usual, he also felt a different sensation- disturbed and unnerved. How could a person when he was _the same age as himself_ have done something as drastic and horrifying as kill off an entire clan of people? What kind of life had lead up to that moment? It made Kurapika sick to think of all the deaths that must have been jam packed in Kuroro's mere 26 years of life.

"You're staring." The spider pointed out. "I do know I am conventionally considered quite attractive." Kurapika fumed and blushed and opened his mouth to say something before Kuroro cut him off. "You should know though. _You_ are absolutely _beautiful._" And Kurapika was forced to close his mouth in stunned silence. Kuroro said it with such fierceness and sincerity while looking Kurapika straight in the eyes. His voice had none of the previous teasing and it was low and said without a stutter.

Kuroro on the other hand, was watching his handiwork with a small internal smile. Sometimes the best way to disarm your opponent was to say the truth. Honesty was a _weapon_ best wielded by someone known to be a perpetual liar. And the Kurta truly was _beautiful_. He should know. He made it his business to be an expert on beautiful things.

"Pakunoda is here." He said. He just hoped that he had unbalanced the Kurta enough to make Pakunoda realize she should take the chance to fight him- take the chance to recognize his weaknesses.

It broke his heart when the following events happened the way they did.

-x-x-x-

Kuroro felt empty. For all his efforts, for all his plans, for all his confidence that his subordinates would do as he asked… he had fallen short. Everything important had been stripped away from him. His nen, communication with the people he considered family, Pakunoda herself… Tears rolled down his checks in much the same way they had for Uvogin. And yet.. his subordinates considered it a success. He was free of the chain assassin with his life and Pakunoda's sacrifice instead of being seen as stupid (as he thought) and instead of resenting him for her death, his subordinates were all full of admiration and love for her. Her life had been willingly given, Hisoka relayed to him, as he couldn't contact his people directly. Willingly given for the man she had loved more than anything else. She betrayed the spider to save _him. _She had embraced death to let the others know exactly what had transpired.

Kuroro clutched at his heart as if it physically pained him. She had been with him from the very start. His right hand woman. At the dim bar he was at, he picked up his glass of scotch and downed it. The chain assassin had won. The spider was in pieces. Two members dead. Himself incapacitated. Hisoka doing who knows what.

There were days he thought he couldn't stand it. Couldn't stand to live like a regular human being burdened with the memory of wonderful and powerful abilities and wonderful and powerful friends. Those were the days he wondered why the chain assassin didn't kill him. He certainly hated him enough. Then he remembered it was all because of Pakunoda… Pakunoda and those kids that Kuroro had once taunted Kurapika that he cared about more than vengeance. That was what saved his miserable life. And Kuroro understood, in some bizarre way. It was a truce. Kill no more of mine, and I will kill no more of yours. No more.

No. More.

It was hard for Kuroro to grasp that concept. He was always so good at coming out on top. At winning. But this time, he couldn't pursue and _destroy_ the chain assassin like he wanted to… because he knew they would destroy each other completely. His spider couldn't either, for fear or unleashing Kurapika's nen that upon his death would kill _him. _As for the two kids, it seemed as if they somehow gained the respect of Paku and subsequently the rest of the troupe. He was the deciding factor. As long as the chain was around his heart, the truce stayed in place.

He ordered another drink and prepared to get well and roaring drunk.

-x-x-x-

The first time he saw Kurapika again after… _the incident _was at his favorite bar. It was 1:30 in the morning and he was past the point of drunk. He was still in mourning and dedicated to the cause of drowning his sorrows every night. He could tell though as the weeks passed, Hisoka, who regularly dropped in to check on him and his still non-existent nen was getting impatient. He had the sense that Hisoka was waiting for him to snap out of his stupor and either find a way to get rid of the nen chain around his heart or rise up in a blaze of fury to do whatever damage he could before being taken out. Kuroro mused… If he pissed off Hisoka enough, he might even kill him. And without his nen he was hardly a fair fight. Knowing Hisoka's personal prowess though, no one could say it was a shameful death. Hisoka would likely even call him spoiled fruit. He bitterly chuckled to himself at the thought. He picked up his scotch. No. He would be done mourning when he was done mourning, Hisoka be damned.

It was then that he saw the blonde storm in. His eyes were coal black, but Kuroro was familiar enough with the blonde to know that behind those black contacts, his eyes were shining brighter than… than a what? Kuroro's tipsy mind failed to provide him with a metaphor. He watched as the blonde stormed up to the bar several seats away from him, either not noticing him or ignoring him completely. Knowing his lack of nen, it was probably the first. And it prickled Kuroro's sense of ego… knowing that an opponent he considered one of his equals didn't even pick up on his presence due to his danger_less_ state. He felt the need for confrontation rise in his gut. It was the alcohol speaking, but in the manner of all drunks, he didn't notice.

"Hey there beautiful." When Kuroro was angry, he tended to become eerily polite and cordial. One would never find him in a good old fashioned cathartic yell fest. It was his incredibly caustic and occasionally sarcastic tone that belied his hidden emotions. "Your eyes are like the stars that shine at night. Might I buy you a drink?" When he became sober again, he would cringe at the punishment he tried to inflict on the blonde: trying to patronize the other like by treating him as the woman he knew he wasn't and using the worst pick up line he could absolutely think of to do it. He blamed it on the bar setting.

Kurapika however, didn't even miss a beat. He downed his shot without giving him a glance. "I'm in a really bad mood tonight. I'm also a man. Trying hitting on someone else tonight." It was a testament to how recited those words were. Kurapika must be familiar with being called a woman.

"Oh, I _know_ you're a _man._"

_That_ caught Kurapika's attention and he swung his attention over to the spider while downing his second, third, fourth? drink. And Kuroro watched with some sort of satisfaction as the blonde's eyes widened and his throat spasmed around the hard liquor and there was a muffled choke.

"_You!" _He hissed. Kuroro fancied he could see a tinge of red flash along the outskirts of his coal black contacts. Kurapika gave one more mighty cough before gaining control of himself. "_You!" _he said again with more emphasis and dripping hate.

"That's right sugar. _Me." _And Kuroro felt that good feeling swell into him. After weeks of being a nobody on the streets that this beautiful creature acknowledged him with such intensity. He suddenly wanted it back. His powers. The ability to go toe to toe and maybe even _dominate_ this boy in front of him. Get his revenge. Ah, he quickly reigned in that thought. That's right. Between his organization and Kurapika's friends, they were at a truce to avoid each other.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Kurapika fumed. His eyes darted around wildly, as if he expected to see his other members lurking around.

Kuroro took a seat inappropriately close to the Kurta and leaned closer, watching Kurapika's face darken the closer he got. "Just getting a hot blonde something a drink. Any preferences? Although I admit I don't expect you to be much of a drinker at all."

Predictably, Kurapika looked a mix of wanting to hit him and ignore him. He knew when he was being taunted, but it seemed an overreaction to what he knew to be a nen-less Kuroro. And Kuroro just _knew._ He knew the blonde was a serious and no nonsense sort of individual that didn't know how to reaction to Kuroro's type of suave charm that seemed to so easily make light of things. The Kurta was a direct sort of individual while he himself was about as indirect and sneaky as you could get. He really liked it. Being able to fluster and anger the blonde nen-less with nothing but his wits. It made him feel in control again.

"_Listen to me."_ Kurapika glared at him. "Like I said I'm having a _really _bad day. I swear if you don't leave me alone I might _kill you._"

And Kurapika meant it. He felt angry and off-center. Kuroro didn't look like his normal self, and he was ashamed for missing him in the first place…. but no wonder! Instead of wearing his usual fur coat and slicking back his hair, his hair fell free but neatly over his forehead, shaving more years off his appearance. His bauble earrings were missing and he wore just a slightly rumpled white dress shirt. He honestly looked like just another bar customer- someone young, in college, and nursing a heartbreak perhaps. Nothing about him screamed spider. And Kurapika was even more ashamed to admit that… for a second, when the spider first got his attention in the bar, Kurapika thought him _wildly attractive._ When that voice first said, "Oh, I know you're a _man."_ he turned around, _almost considered letting him buy him a drink_, before realizing with _horror_ who the man actually was. He felt tricked, unsteady, and worse, he realized with a start. _Tipsy. _He had downed quite a few shots in quick succession… he hadn't been lying when he said he had a bad day. And this prick was making it worse and Kurapika knew he just wouldn't be able to _stand_ it anymore in his presence. He blamed everything on his terrible decision to go to a bar of all places… it really wasn't his usual haunt.

"Oh ho. You wouldn't. Not a defenseless man like me." the spider taunted, completely unaffected by his threat.

The blonde stood up suddenly. He had put up with enough of the spider for one lifetime, he wasn't going to stand for more of his bullshit. Swinging around, he slammed money on the counter before striding with purpose to the door. _Urk._ His body did not like that at all, and the room spun threateningly. People weaved in and out of his vision, but he surged forth with single minded determination to get away from that _man._

Kurapika had resolved to wash his hands of violence and revenge. _Nobody, _nobody except maybe Senritsu knew how hard it was for him and how hard he had struggled with himself. Even the friends that had helped him to that conclusion didn't _know_. He had exacted his revenge in the form of forcing the spider head to feel the same pain he did- the loss of his friends, and that was enough for him. Because- because- he swallowed the familiar lump of guilt and pain. His actions caused the death of Pakunoda- the person in the entire troupe that he least wanted to kill. Because Paku was _just like him. _Had sacrificed her own personal goals, defied the spider just so she could save _him, the head._ Hadn't Kurapika done the same? Made a deal with her to _please please_ spare Gon and Killua? Given up revenge so his precious friends would be returned to him safely? Given it up because his friends had pleaded with him that it wasn't healthy and he couldn't bear to self-destruct knowing they'd be watching? Yes, he had, and the ordeal was over with a truce. That didn't mean meeting the spider head sorely tested his patience. He was barely out the door when an iron grip grasped him by the wrist and swung him back around.

Kuroro towered over him, maintaining his wrist in a grip that was impressive from someone with no nen. "_I'm not finished talking to you yet." _he said. Now that Kurapika had a good look at him up close, he realized that the head of the spider wasn't looking very good. His eyes were awash with tinges of red. He had been crying. Circles under his eyes indicated he hadn't been sleeping. And that haunted, angry look in his eyes showed that he was very much not over what had happened to his organization. Kurapika cursed his compassion as he realized exactly how much the other man was hurting and trying desperately to hide it behind bluster and alcohol.

"Let go of me." he tried softening his voice, tried to sound reasonable as he tried tugging his wrist out of Kuroro's grasp. And before he knew what was happening, he was grappling with Kuroro in an all-out wresting match. It seemed like for Kuroro his emotions had bubbled over to the point of leveling a punch at Kurapika. He went down and they brawled in the way drunks do. None of them even realized that Kurapika had walked straight out the back entrance instead of the front and were fighting in an abandoned alleyway filled with rubbish bins.

Kurapika, unused to alcohol, and having drunk past his limit found himself pinned to the ground. He ceased his struggling and stared up straight into Kuroro's eyes. "Let me up or I'll use my nen." It was a blatant reminder of who would defeat whom in a real all out fight.

A dark look crossed Kuroro's face. He grabbed Kurapika by the collar and shook him a little bit. Not enough to hurt. "I'm going to get my nen back." he vowed solemnly. "When I do, I'm going to find you." He shoved Kurapika away from him, rose unsteadily to his feet, and made his way back into the bar.

"… And what? What are you going to do after that, huh? Kill me?" Kurapika couldn't help one last yell. He didn't know what to make of it when Kuroro didn't respond with yes.


	2. The Airship

Hello everyone! Thank you to each and every one of the reviewers who left me a comment for my first chapter. Coming back to ff after so long it's so nice to see that I posted something that real people actually read. This chapter is shorter than the last by a little, but let me tell you that I re wrote this chapter 2 times before this came out. I have about another 5k words that I'm not sure I'm going to be able to use for this story after this revision. Reminder that this story IS slash and its not going to change.

-x-x-x-

Despite all of Kuroro's thieving ways, he considers himself an honest man. Or at least, the only honesty he thought counted was honesty towards himself. It was his solid ground, the line between the lies he fed the world about himself and the man he considers himself to truly be. And if he was honest with himself, he realized that he might be, just a tad bit, slightly obsessed with the last remaining Kurta. He was like a dog that couldn't leave a bone well enough alone, constantly gnawing and gnawing, turning thoughts over in his head again and again that all had to do with the blonde.

When Kurapika yelled in that tipsy mocking voice of his, "What are you going to do, _Kill me?"_ He realized even in his also then drunken state- that the answer that pieced through his foggy mind like a cliché arrow of light was a resounding _no. _He suddenly couldn't imagine not knowing Kurapika- knowing that a man with a burning gaze wasn't somewhere out there in the world anymore. It was a strange feeling. He suddenly felt like they were like Joker and Batman from that western movie… the two of them destined to clash for eternity, one never truly defeating the other. They were inextricably tied via their history. Like the two chasing tails of yin and yang. _That_ turn of thoughts had him slightly disturbed; for there never was an opponent that Kuroro had felt this way towards. _All _enemies had weaknesses; all enemies when clashed with his brilliance fell short. None of his previous enemies had managed to capture him before though.

Kurapika was fascinating really, and what's more, there's a dark part of Kuroro that felt some sort of satisfaction at having shaped such a creature. _He_ had caused Kurapika to be the glorious, powerful individual that he is. _Him. _Kurapika owed his personality, life, and friends, all to Kuroro. And there it was again, that familiar pleasant feeling of knowing that for many years of his life, Kurapika held him at the center of his world. To kill him, but that was beside the point! Or maybe it was exactly the point: the fact that such a challenge found him and he was basking in the attention.

Then Kuroro would jerk and realize what exactly he was thinking about, and yes, he really was slightly obsessed with Kurapika.

The man had killed Uvogin, was indirectly responsible for Pakunoda's death, and here Kuroro was obsessing. But that was the nature of the spider. The spider acknowledged power and ability, and didn't take deaths personally. In fact, right after Uvogin's death, Machi had picked up on his silent musings to have Kurapika replace Uvogin. The spider was replaced with stronger and stronger parts, and that had been the way it has always been. Impersonal. Then Kurapika revealed just _who_ he was and Kuroro realized Kurapika would rather die a thousand deaths than become one with the spider. He himself had changed as well, for he found himself unable to remain impersonal while remembering Pakunoda's sacrifice and his own subsequent isolation from his comrades.

Kuroro didn't know what would happen when he finally met the blonde on the battlefield again with his abilities, but he knew two things. 1. The blonde would pay. And 2. The blonde must live.

He lifted his cellphone when it started beeping. "Hisoka."

"Kuroro."

"Did you find him?"

"Yes. East." There was an effeminate laugh from the other side.

And that was when he remembered the prophecy: his destiny lies East. That, and apparently a powerful nen exorcist as well. He smiled.

"Thank you Hisoka."

"No problem!" And that was when under the playful voice he heard the hunger… the desire and bloodlust. He reminded himself: if he wanted to get to Kurapika, he had to make sure he survived Hisoka.

-x-x-x-

Kurapika missed his friends. Gon, Killua, and Leorio kept him laughing and sane, and right now, he could really use some of that. He was staring at his dead brethren's eyes floating in a liquid filled tube and felt the great weight of sadness bearing down him. Several other pairs of eyes stood in their tubes on the table as well. All watching him. He took a deep breath and stared deeper into those bright flashing eyes. Who was this? Who did this pair belong to? What about that one? Were they close? Were they… his parents? He couldn't tell, but one thing was for sure: they were all his kin and he was alone. Out of the 36 pairs of eyes that existed in the world, Kurapika through great effort and time had managed to collect 6. He had a 7th in sight in the hands of Neon- it was the pair her father had paid 2.9m jenny for in that catastrophic auction. The fool girl lost it somehow though, stolen from under her own nose most likely, for it was no where to be found and he knew he himself didn't have it. It took immense willpower not to accidentally hurt the girl when he found out, such was his fury. It was out there somewhere and that meant 30 more pairs. 30 more plans, lies, and clever sneaks.

_But it was so worth it._ Kurapika felt his grief more acutely than ever before, watching the eyes gently bob in their container, but it also embalmed and soothed his soul like nothing else. _Finally,_ they could be put to rest, and the tinges of bitter nen he could feel throbbing from the eyes slowly became welcoming and _familiar_ as he prayed over them with ancient Kurta funeral rites_._ Picking up the pieces of his long dead family, reclaiming what had been so brutally stolen from them felt like putting the pieces of his heart back together, and it felt so, so good.

Slowly, he collected the 6 pairs and placed them neatly into his bag. They were becoming bulky and burdensome to carry and hide from prying eyes. By day he still worked for Neon and the Nostrade family, making what money he could even though the family was finished due to losing Neon's fortune telling ability. There were many nights of tears and difficult financial decisions, but luckily for Kurapika, his bodyguard services were needed more than ever before. Many businesses that were trounced as the Nostrades's rose to the top were out for blood. That being said, it was important to make sure the eyes never fell under the radar of the young flesh collector, for her tastes for collecting preserved anatomy haven't dwindled a bit even after the loss of her father's financial security. It was times like this that he wished that he had the abilities of the damn spider: Kuroro's Fun Fun Cloth would have been extremely handy to hide the tall crystal vials of scarlet eyes. For Kurapika, he had to make do with first hiding it as best he could in his room which made him almost crazy with paranoia knowing Neon's servants may accidentally stumble upon them while cleaning, or renting out several different storage spaces to disperse the eyes in. In anyone suspected that he was a Kurta or that he may have something to do with the 6 missing pairs of eyes that sent the black market and underground collectors into uproar, his storage spaces rented under his name would be broken into. In fact, he realized just in time that _Zenji_ that damned man _knew_ who he was because he was incapable of hiding his emotions and scarlet eyes after he managed to outbid the other for the first pair of scarlet eyes.

He needed a place to hide them, but nowhere was safe.

It was time to take a leave of absence from his bodyguard duties and pay a visit to his ancestral Kurta Clan grounds in the Lukso Province in the far East.

Funny how fate points you in the right (or wrong) direction.

-x-x-x-

Fate had tied these two individuals, Kurapika and Kuroro, tighter than most: the bloody history that they shared locked in place a connection and relationship that was impossible to ignore and even more impossible to forget. Fate seemed intent on tightening the bonds that drew them together, again and again.

They met on the only airship out of Yorknew that traveled Eastwards.

-x-x-x-

Kurapika smiled gently at the old woman he was helping down the stairs towards the dinner hall. The airship was a moderately small airship as far as airships go, and it lent itself to a cozy atmosphere in which he was immediately sucked into. His neighbors to the right of his room were two old ladies who had immediately taken a liking to him and requested his presence for questions, gossip, and mothering.

One of the two, called Yue, was a tough old bird that refused any help Kurapika offered her and had hobbled down the stairs herself. She had a keen look in her eyes and she grilled Kurapika hard on what he was doing on the airship alone. Quickly, Kurapika had spun a modified version of the truth. He didn't want to share his bloody past, and simply stated he was going to do research on the Kurta in Lukso Province, which was all the way on the other side of the Yorbian Continent, where the airship's 5th stop was going to be.

The other woman was named Nancy and appeared to be a foreigner. She delighted in talking to Kurapika, and thought it wonderful that Kurapika had the patience and kindness to deal with "two old grannies." She didn't seem to care nearly as much about where Kurapika was heading and the manner of her questions dealt with his family and friends. Questions about his family he had avoided at all costs, but he loved talking about his friends and chatting with Nancy always gave him a fresh appreciation of the wonderful friends he was blessed with.

"And here you go, Nancy-san." Kurapika said when they reached the last step, using the typical honorific even though Nancy objected fiercely. "Now I'll go back and get your wheelchair-"

The words stuck in his throat then, for as he was about to turn around and head back up the stairs, a person brushed past him with a magnetic sweep of cologne and grandly deposited the wheelchair on the ground floor.

"Here you are, Ma'am." he heard a deep voice say. Kurapika's heart rate smashed through the roof and he nearly stopped breathing when he realized that it was _Kuroro._ _The spider. The killer of his clan, _who was suddenly charming smiles onto both Yue and Nancy. His first thought was to quickly attack the spider before he could harm either Yue or Nancy, but logic gripped him then and he realized it was doubtful Kuroro meant to brew trouble when he was nen-less aboard an airship thousands of feet from the ground. He was dressed in much the same manner as the last time Kurapika saw him: white dress shirt and free-falling hair. His fearsome leather fur coat, combat boots, and slicked back hair were nowhere to be seen.

"Why thank you young man!" Nancy said, enveloping Kuroro in a hug. Kurapika twitched in alarm. _Stay away. You have no idea who you're so fondly hugging._ She turned her gaze to Kurapika irritably. "And that's how you can address me, Kurapika! Just a ma'am or Nancy will do. None of this san or sama business that you're so fond of. Goodness knows I'm not used to it!"

"Young man, what's your name? Might I persuade you to join us for dinner?" Yue asked quickly. She was eyeing Kuroro like a hawk, but not in a suspicious way, as Kurapika wished. He was still rooted in place, almost helpless to diffuse the situation happening before his eyes without seeming rude or strange.

"My name is Kuroro Lucifer." He said politely. He turned towards Nancy, "Or Lucifer Kuroro as I understand your culture dictates. I was also be honored to join you for dinner. I have to say, traveling alone for long distances is not much fun."

Nancy absolutely beamed at him, her sliver curls bobbing. "Kurapika here is traveling all alone too! I say, half the fun of going somewhere are the adventures you have with your friends. I wouldn't be able to stand it without my oldest friend Yue here. Young people are always in such a hurry, they tend to leave their friends behind." She shook her head as though deeply saddened. Something suddenly clicked in her. "Did you say your first name is Lucifer?" There was finally an unsure glint in her eyes.

"Yes Ma'am."

"Hrummph. Your parents certainly had an interesting taste in names, though of course they mustn't be blamed. The Japanese aren't generally Christian, I have heard, for let me tell you child, your name is the name of the conniving angel that brought chaos and turned against God."

"Oh be quiet you old hag," Yue snapped in a teasing way. "He doesn't need to hear what you superstitious westerners think about his name. I think its a fine name, it sounds lovely."

But Kuroro being charming Kuroro addressed Nancy all the same. "Yes ma'am, I don't think my parents knew that. All they knew was that Lucifer meant 'light-bringer' or 'morning star'. They were living as refugees in dark times. I think the name brought them hope."

Yue patted Nancy on the air with a snort. "See where your nosiness has gotten you! I'm sorry boy, we don't mean to remind you of any hard times your family may have fallen on. Come, come, let us have dinner."

Nancy was quick to agree. "Apologies young man. Yes, yes, dinner!" She then turned to Kurapika, likely to hasten him forwards, but raised her brow at the tenseness in Kurapika's frame, the slight redness of his face, and the fact that he hadn't said a single word since Kuroro got there. _Ohho!_ _Has cupid struck him speechless?_ _Lucifer certainly is a good-looking boy. _She grinned to herself and checked to see if Yue noticed. She had, and was frowning?

As for Kurapika, he allowed himself to be numbly guided into the dining hall, only shaken from his stupor when Kuroro shot him a private smirk that spoke of wicked pleasure. Kurapika then recalled what he knew about the conniving angel Lucifer: _The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist._

-x-x-x-

_I definitely still feel a little rusty; the words didn't come to me as easily as I wished they did. I would love all feedback. Thank you for reading! _


	3. The Darkness

Hello everyone! Thank you for the reviews of my last chapter and I've responded to all those with an active account. I love chatting about these characters. :3 I had it pointed out to me that Kurapika is not actually 19 yet, but actually 17/18. My apologies I had wikied their ages beforehand and seem to have taken them from different times. Kurapika will remain 19 years old though. :3 I also have an authors note at the bottom of the chapter that I'd love you guys to read, but first, the chapter proper!

-x-x-x-

Kuroro didn't know what to make of it at first when he came across Kurapika on the airship heading towards Greed Island. It wasn't quite a straight shot; he had to take the last landing on the continent before finding a boat that would be willing to make the trip to small and reclusive Greed Island. He was on his way to finding a nen exorcist to remove the chain around his heart, so honestly, he never dreamed that there was a possibility that Kurapika was on the same ship. The familiar need for confrontation was roiling in his gut, but mixed in was curiosity: what was the last Kurta up to now? Kuroro knew from experience that Kurapika was a capable and smart strategist, and thus he felt the need for espionage.

The entire ship had maybe 50-75 people, Kuroro wasn't sure yet as he hadn't done a preliminary overview. It was small and it was highly unlikely that he would be able to carry out any sort of covert operation on the blonde while he was here. Plus, he admitted to himself. He didn't want to. What he wanted was to be able to openly face the Kurta and watch the now familiar scarlet hue rise to his eyes.

Kuroro noticed Kurapika chatting quite animatedly with two elderly women several times. He was a little bit surprised to see that the blonde truly enjoyed making small talk with them. He himself had never been one for making such casual friends (unless it suited him for some greater purpose) and he almost wondered if there was something special about these two women that he wasn't aware of. Further investigation showed that nope, Kurapika treated everyone much the same way, completely differently from the way Kuroro was used to seeing Kurapika. Angry scarlet eyes and shaking hands and chains are what Kuroro was familiar with. Seeing how calm, polite, and downright kind Kurapika was with other people was absolutely strange.

He took it upon himself to break the calm as soon as possible. When he saw Kurapika helping down the squatter of the two women down the stairs, he saw his time to strike, and he took it.

The look on the blonde's face when he realized who he was was as usual, priceless.

-x-x-x-

Kurapika was having hard time concentrating on the food. Thoughts of _SPIDER._ _CLOSE BY. RIGHT THERE._ permeated his thoughts again and again and it was making him jumpy. He stared hard at his chicken and pile of leafy greens and struggled to look normal and engage in the conversation.

"Lucifer, dear," said Nancy, "Where are you headed?" At this, Kurapika found himself also wondering. He could feel that his nen chain was still in place. Was Kuroro on his way to find someone to get of the chain like he said? He felt himself panicking at the thought, but calmed himself down. There was no way. He firmly told himself. The nen chain would last forever.

"I'm getting off at the Yorbian Coast. I believe that is the last stop? After that, I'm going to be taking a boat to visit my cousins on my father's side who live on one of the islands near the mainland." Kuroro explained. Geographically though, Greed Island was an island rather far from the mainland.

Nancy squealed, "Kurapika is getting off at the same stop! You two will have quite some time to get to know each other! I hope you two become good friends. That's how Yue and I first met, after all. We were traveling with our families to hear the new Prime Minister's inauguration speech and it was just two little girls and a huge ship as our backyard." She nudged Yue. "Remember that? Oh, it was such fun, we got up to such trouble. We climbed the ships outer beams you know, gave those old folks down below a real scare." The two ladies cackled.

"Excuse us, we're just two old people with too many stories to tell and not enough people listening." Smirked Yue. "But I'm wanting to hear about you youngsters for a change. How many cousins do you have, Kuroro-san?"

Kurapika looked up from his food to see what kind of lie (or maybe truth?) the spider head was going to say. He instantly regretted it when Kuroro locked eyes with Kurapika.

"I used to have 12 cousins." He began slowly. There were some murmurs of surprise. "Two passed away recently. Part of the reason I'm going. To attend their funerals." It was clear as day to anyone watching that Kuroro was openly devastated over their deaths. Kurapika refused to let the guilt he felt well up more within in. Fuck Kuroro. Fuck him and his toying with him. To use cousins as a metaphor for his spider…

Nancy looked stricken. She took his hand. "I'm so sorry, Lucifer, that's horrible. Dying young is such a tragedy. Tell me, what are their names? I would like to pray for them."

"Paku and Ubo." he said, and was a little bit started when right then and there, Nancy clasped her hands together and bowed her head, seemingly deep in prayer. This was unfamiliar and instantly he felt a little bit uncomfortable. Yue closed her eyes and also fell into quiet contemplation. Kuroro got the strange feeling it was more for Nancy's benefit than his own, but… he still felt… touched? He had never met anyone like this. No one, never mind a complete stranger, had ever seemed genuinely sorry about the death of another human being. He himself had never paused for very long to consider giving empathy to anyone who was hurting. He never even gave a second thought to the people that _he himself _had killed. It wasn't personal. It was just a dog eat dog world. But looking at Nancy's bowed head and murmuring lips, he could tell that she was sincere. He felt touched… but then, a powerful wave of scorn washed over him. She was just a stupid old woman. She had loose control over her emotions and wore her heart on her sleeve. She was just lucky she made it to this age alive without someone exploiting it. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Common, normal people were stupid, and suddenly he longed to be back in the company of his spider… with the people that he had grown up with and the people he had met later and now call comrades.

He could see Kurapika looking at the two women gently, and he realized he was the only one who felt the way he did. Then Kurapika looked at him, and he could see the flare of red outlining those black, black contacts. Then there was a blink and it was gone.

"I'm very sorry for your loss." Kurapika said. Kuroro knew he said it to be polite in front of the other two, but it infuriated him. _No. You're not. _Then he realized the near hypocrisy of his thoughts. _And I… I am not sorry for yours either._ And grudgingly, he validated the blonde's feelings of vengeance.

He schooled himself back into his charming self. "Thank you Kurapika. They meant a lot to me." He then made a show of marveling over the food. "I say, the food and company is too good to be spend in such a sad mood. Let's talk about something else." He turned his sharp gaze back to Kurapika as they two women raised their heads and rejoined the conversation.

"Where did you say you were headed, Kurapika?"

"I didn't say." Kurapika bit out. Nancy and Yue looked a little surprised at his vehemence, but he was unable to keep it under wraps. He cursed himself for having already told the two women about his destination. There was no use to keep it a secret, Kuroro was definitely skilled enough to charm the information out of one of them. "I'm heading towards the Lukso Province."

"To do research on the massacred Kurta Clan." Yue chimed in, looking incredibly interested. "The area is a geographical nightmare, Kurapika, do you even know what you're doing? You likely won't be able to find the village at all."

"I heard the same thing. Only the Kurta themselves know where the village is truly located." Kuroro said slyly. He shrugged. "And I suppose the group that killed them as well." Nancy looked increasingly unhappy with the conversation while Yue looked intrigued. Kurapika, on the other hand, was growing increasingly incensed by Kuroro's presence.

"I suppose I don't intend to find the village." He lied. "Although I suppose I can always hope. I plan to interview a few of the natives in the surrounding area to see if they know anything about the Kurta. That's all." He put down his fork. "And excuse me, I've had a long day, I need to get some sleep soon." He turned questioningly towards Nancy. "Nancy-san, would you require any assistance getting back?"

"Don't worry about it dear, I've managed for quite a few years by myself. You go get some sleep." With an internal sigh of relief, Kurapika collected his things, and quickly left the dining hall.

-x-x-x-

That was just a small taste of his interactions with the dark-haired leader of the Spiders. Over the course of the next few days, Kurapika found it absolutely impossible to avoid the spider head. He was _everywhere._ The airship was small to begin with, and everyone by the end of the third day seemed to know everyone by sight. Perhaps Kurapika was simply hypersensitive to the other's presence, but it certainly felt claustrophobic and like he was unable to get away from the other man. He was still off-center and angry, and when he searched himself and tried to figure out why he felt so disconcerted, he kept coming back to Kuroro himself. The way he looked. The way his voice sounded. While Kurapika pretty much had a conscience of steel, it failed him with regard to Kuroro. There was too much history between them and… the man's natural attractiveness when he _didn't _look like the spider head actually sort of… _intimidated _him. More so than if he had his trademark slicked hair and fur coat. When Kuroro looked young and smiling and attractive, Kurapika had a harder time connecting the face to the crimes his brain knew the man committed. He remembered that moment in the bar when he realized he found the other absurdly attractive and then the disgust with himself that followed right after. He had the strangest fear that he if maintained eye contact with the other for long enough, Kuroro would someone read the thoughts straight form his head. And he would _never, ever, _be able to live that down.

He also spent more time with Nancy and Yue. After the curiosity and probing questions of the first few days, they had settled into a habit of chatting about the food, the weather, and their old shenanigans. Kurapika welcomed the reprieve when it came. The two ladies were friendly and calming on his nerves. Whilst he chatted with them, he could forget that a certain other person loomed somewhere on the same ship.

Of course, interaction with Kuroro was unavoidable. Yue in particular seemed keen on making new friends. She would constantly wave over random strangers she had met over whenever they were in the ship's lounge to come have a cup of tea or to play a game of chess or cards. Kuroro occasionally was flagged down by the demanding old woman and Kurapika would have his peaceful time disturbed as those laughing dark eyes made a point to seek his out.

He did, however, find out some personal details from the spider in this way. Nancy enjoyed building up a portfolio of each person she met and would ask the spider more questions about his family and past. That smooth cultured voice spun sad stories of life in a place called Meteor City, of abandonment by his parents due to a refugee restriction, of subsequent life on the streets, and finally reunion with his parents. It was truthfully an engrossing story and Kuroro was a great storyteller. Kurapika would be willing to bet his clan's eyes, however, that they were 100% lies designed to win the sympathy of both women and remind the Kurta again and again which one of them held manipulative power in these social settings… the sway he held with merely his words. It was Kuroro's way of showing off his great charm and skill, Kurapika was sure of it. _Bastard._ He was tempted on multiple occasions to reveal to the two women a little bit of truth about the man's dark, death-filled history to warm them to stay away… but he knew if it ever came down to his word against Kuroro's, the master silvertongue would come out on top. He was unused to the idea that someone might not believe him (his word was as good as gold in his known circles), but such was the effect of strangers and Kuroro's undeniable charm.

_Hell, _there were moments when he himself was nearly swept up in it. Kuroro was exceptionally gallant when he wanted to be, and fetched them drinks, made small talk, and helped Nancy get around whenever he could. There were small moments when upon seeing Kuroro Kurapika didn't immediately feel his eyes begging to turn scarlet- a sure sign he was acclimating to the other.

It was inevitable though, that they would clash again.

-x-x-x-

It started ironically with air turbulence. The airship was flying over an area known as the Yorbian Stream, an air current that bisected the continent and was known to unexpectedly whip up storms. The feat of technology had made flying through it relatively safe, but according to their captain they were in for some rough riding.

Kuroro welcomed the turbulence. It was in his nature to appreciate the chaos of nature and even acutely feeling his life swing in the balance with every gust of wind was a small thrill. Plus… if felt kind of cathartic after the week he had just had. Over the course of the week he had seen Kurpaika dote upon the two elderly women like a devoted grandchild. He still hadn't gotten over just how attentive and kind Kurapika was to those around him, and it seemed to him that Kurapika really had a spot for old people, for it wasn't just Nancy and Yue who got to enjoy Kurapika's care, just the ones who demanded it the most. He, for the purposes of curiosity and petty vengeance, made sure he could crash their tea times as much as possible.

He felt a little unsettled though. When they predictably asked him about his home and his past, he had a beautifully constructed lie waiting. He had begun his story, but soon realized that his little audience was only half spellbound. Kurapika was watching him with a brow raised in skepticism while he said it and suddenly, he wanted what he was saying to be true… he wanted to defy the blonde's judgments. So he did. He told the truth about his past, about his life before becoming the head of the spider. It was strange, since he hadn't thought about his life in many years, and there were times he had to pause and really search his old memories for feelings long forgotten. But once he came back to himself and Kurapika looked like he wanted to scoff at him, he was doused with the feeling of _what the hell did I just tell them?_

It bothered him. A lot.

He didn't like to think about his history and he didn't usually like others to know about it either, though logically he knew it was no big deal. He was struck with the feeling he had given away part of himself just so he could score a point over the blonde.

So when the lights flickered in the overhead chandeliers and the floor tipped dangerously to the side, it felt like the universe was releasing his pent up frustration for him.

He, Kurapika, Nancy, and Yue were all sitting in the lounge when the first wave rippled through the ship. The world tilted sickeningly, and there were shouts as plates crashed to the floor. The chess game that Kuroro and Nancy were engaged in slipped to the floor as well, pieces falling everywhere.

"_Attention please. This is your captain speaking. We seem to have hit turbulence a bit earlier than we expected. Please return to your rooms immediately while exercising utmost caution. I repeat, please return to your rooms while exercising utmost caution. Do not run, panic, or yell. Flight attendants will be around shortly for further instructions." _

The intercom beeped in closing and everyone was soon milling around getting ready to return to their rooms. None of the furniture in the main areas was bolted down, but everything in individual rooms was. They had been briefed by security before boarding that returning to their rooms was the best course of action while on an airship experiencing turbulence. There were no seat belts, and thus it was easy to be caught off guard if one was walking about rather than staying put, and there were many instances of people getting injured falling down stairs or slamming into edges of moving tables and chairs.

Kurapika was on his feet in a second helping Nancy back into her wheelchair. "I'll wheel you back to your room." He assured her. Nancy and Yue had cast each other a slightly worried glance upon seeing the crowds of slightly panicked people.

"Thank you dear-" There was a second chorus of yelps as the airship rocked in the opposite direction, sending several people into a stumble. Kurapika grounded himself and his charge, and Kuroro managed to put a hand on Yue before the little old lady was pitched to the floor. "I'll help," he said.

Together, they slowly navigated their way up the stairs and into one of the passenger room hallways. Kuroro himself was in an entirely different section, but he didn't mind sending the three back to their rooms first, especially since he had no fear of shifting ground beneath his feet. It almost made him feel like he had nen again. _Nen._ He shivered at the memory of power coursing through his veins and once more became aware of the existence of the Kurta a few steps in front of him. By the time they dropped off the two at Nancy and Yue's shared suite, the halls were clear and they were the only ones seemingly out and about.

"_Ladies and Gentleman, please remain calm. We are currently taking measures to avoid an unexpected storm in front of us. Please stay in your rooms until we give the signal we are clear of the storm. For now, we must turn off all excess lights to reduce risk of an electrical fire-" _

There was a beep, static, then nothing as the lights went out before the captain had a chance to finish. Kuroro and Kurapika froze in the pitch black hallway.

Instincts slammed into Kuroro like a sledgehammer and without even _thinking_ he had spun smartly on his heel towards Kurapika and shoved him hard against the wall, his forearm braced against the blonde's throat. Kurapika was caught completely off guard and only reached up with both hands to pull at the arm that was restricting his breathing.

Then Kuroro came back to himself. It was the lights. The darkness. The trick the petite man in front of him had once used to capture him with impossibly dire consequences. His body remembered the lesson, remembered the man who had sealed his nen, and was unwilling to potentially fall for the same trap again. He was already backing off of the blonde when the blonde ripped his arm away with reinforced nen, stepped up into his space, and was preparing to give_ one hell_ of a punch- Kuroro could almost _see_ the nen without the use of _gyou. _The ship rocked again in that instant with the fiercest jolt they had felt yet and both were sent to the right. Kuroro quickly compensated while he heard Kurapika swing out a hand to balance himself against the wall.

"Damn spider!" Was all he heard before he caught a kick hitting him square in the side. He still could not see a thing, and without use of his nen, he had no other way to locating Kurapika. Judging carefully based on his voice, he backed away.

"Just instincts." he explained innocently. "You can't blame me especially since the last time I let down my guard in the dark I ended up in chain jail." As if his mention had conjured them, he heard the clink of chains before he felt them slither up his body and hug him tight.

And for the first time since meeting the blonde, a stab of heat ignited in his gut. A powerful _clawing_ fire. This- this was absolutely erotic. It would have been more so under entirely different circumstances, but he couldn't deny that as it was, and it was overtaking his senses. He could feel with burning clarity the nen in those cold chains as they snaked into place, could feel the _hot_ pressure as they settled, solid and heavy, completely real in all senses of the world except he knew they were conjured from nothing but Kurapika's nen essence. _Kurapika's_ nen essence. The power that encased him was _amazing._ It didn't feel like this the first time he had been captured by chain jail. The last time he could only focus on the emptiness inside as he was forced into _Zetsu_ and parted with his nen. Now, he felt on fire and the feeling on the other's nen on his skin was driving him _crazy_. _I'm loosing my mind. I must be. I'm desperate for the feeling of nen._ The justifications rose quickly and sharply in his mind, but as his eyes adjusted to the dark, he realized it was only part of it. He could see Kurapika still heavily breathing and could feel the other's heat as he marched up to him in fury, could juuust see that telltale red, _that glorious red_, escaping the confines of his contacts. Part of it was just Kurapika. The only man in the world who had given him a run for his money. And still is.

"You're damn lucky, Kuroro." Kurapika spat at him. "The wind saved you. If I hadn't lost my balance you would have suffered a full nen punch. You wouldn't have survived that without your own nen to defend you."

And Kuroro realized he couldn't help it, he loved the look in those eyes: partly for their sheen of course, but partly because Kurapika's emotions were written across them so clearly and _he could tell_, he could tell that Kurapika was _aware_ of what was going through his own mind and if he wasn't mistaken, he blonde looked _far_ from unaffected-

"Make sure," Kurapika threatened, pulling the chains tighter. Kuroro resisted making a sound. "That your so-called instincts don't do that again. I won't be responsible for how mine retaliate."

He then loosened the chains, and was about to stalk off in a huff, but Kuroro had other plans. As smooth as can be, his hand tightened around the retreating chains and gave a mighty yank. The blonde flew back towards the spider with a surprised gasp before he found himself firmly pressed against the wall. The hand that wore his chains was pinned to the wall and Kurapika felt callused fingers position themselves threateningly over his delicate wrist bones. Nen-less or not, Kuroro was still a man to be reckoned with.

Kurapika would always have the upper hand though. He could conjure new chains in seconds and could use all 5 types of _nen _with help from his scarlet eyes. He was just about to wrench himself away again when the spider slid up closer to and all but _invaded_ his personal space. He froze in mortification as Kuroro angled his head and drew his lips every so softly against the blonde's rapidly beating jugular. _What._ The sudden intimacy sent his hormones in overdrive, and good lord, it had to be a crime for Kuroro to smell like that: a manly crisp aftershave that overwhelmed him. The time in the bar was brought to the forefront in his memories again.

"You're not fighting me off." the spider observed with a roguish grin. He leaned closer and whispered, "I do know that I am conventionally considered quite attractive." He repeated, stared Kurapika straight in the eyes. "But you should know. _You, _are _beautiful." _The same sincerity was in his voice, only about magnified by a hundred! Kurapika still found himself frozen. The last time the man had said those words, he knew it had been to put him off his game. Now, with Kurapika already neatly folded under the spider, the words felt so much more… more… he didn't know. The sincerity was just so blatantly _real_.

"But don't think for a _second."_ and suddenly the hands that were holding him became rough, and Kuroro's other hand came up to take Kurapika's face in a firm hold, staring dead straight into his eyes. "Don't think for a _second_ this means you're off the hook. My nen _will _be back." He released Kurapika now. "And you really better watch out then." Then it was _Kuroro_ who turned and stalked off into the darkness. Maybe it was the shame coursing through his vein, maybe it was just pure anger, but the blonde was unable to control his final retaliation or just let the encounter die off.

"You can try." Kurapika seethed. "But I promise you'll find yourself with two new judgments around your heart if so."

And the two parted.

-x-x-x-

_Time for the random author's note! I just wanted to share my inspiration and direction for this story. _

_I want the relationship to seem as real and as humanly flawed as possible. There are times when I want to write off Kuroro as a cliche confident suave man that sweeps Kurapika off his feet over his indignant bellowing, but I truly feel that Kuroro has to change as a person before Kurapika can truly love him. They have a huuge difference of principles and that's one the biggest things to overcome. Kuroro has no regard for human life as he is right now, and that is something Kurapika will never find attractive and never forgive. I really like to fantasize about darkish Kuroro doing unmentionables to Kurapika, but I want the actual relationship to be between two equals, two kindred souls that can't yet recognize each other. They hurt each other so much, but maybe it's because of that that they finally learn to love each other. _

_Thus, this airship arc may seem a little out of place (it does a little bit to me too) but I wanted the part about Nancy praying for his friends to strike him unexpectedly. As much as he believes that he chose his own destiny, he is very much also partly product of his upbringing in meteor city (which I plan to explore). Exposing him to unconditional care from a stranger is meant to make him more empathetic and remorseful. Obviously, our boy has a long way to go. _

_That's not to say Kurapika doesn't have to do some work to make a relationship possible. He needs to slowly be exposed to all the shades of grey that is Kuroro and his motivations and desires for doing things. Once he understands that, he can realize that they're not so different. Both seek to protect what they love._

_I just wanted to share some of my motivation for this pairing. They're are so complicated and they have a metric shit ton of baggage, but that's the fun, peeling the layers one by one. The intensity of the ups and downs of this relationship is just crazy, whether it be hate or love, and I personally think transforming it from hate to love would be beautiful. It's definitely a slow process that can go wrong at any moment as they're both crazy powerful and able to kill each other, hence the name of the story itself, Slow Burn._

_So I started with them semi-forgiving each other and entering a stage of truce. Now to enter the element of physical attraction. After that comes the meat of the emotional development, personality shifts, and gradual acceptance, forgiveness, and love. I hope this storyline appeals to you readers as much as it does to me. Please send me feedback, suggestions, or thoughts concerning whether or not my intentions for this story have manifested in the story proper. Or whether you think something is believable or not. Thank you for reading as always! _

_I will warn readers ahead of time that the time of my next update is completely uncertain. Apologies! It could be days or it could be months depending on RL._


	4. The Chess Game

Hello everyone! As usual, thank you ever so much for the kind reviews, it really is a great motivator. I've sent a response to all those with an account. Here is the next chapter. I had a harder time writing this chapter since there were so so so many directions I could have gone and so many unspoken things between them that I want them to say… but I can only choose one, and I'm never quite sure if I chose right.

-x-x-x-

Kurapika would venture to say that it wasn't unreasonable that he avoided the spider like the plague afterwards. It felt like something in the air between them had shifted, even though nothing had really changed. He still hated the man, Kuroro was still nen-less and (mostly) harmless, and they would blessedly be going their separate ways soon enough. Yet, Kurapika found himself mildly terrified of meeting Kuroro alone… which was ridiculous! He held all the cards right now, all the power. His control, and reading of the man had slipped though, and he no longer considered the spider in any way predictable. That night in the darkness had changed his mind quite soundly.

Idly, his hand reached up to rub irritatedly at his neck. He danced around thinking about it. _Damn spider._ It also worried Kurapika that Kuroro seemed convinced that he was going to get his nen back. He needed more data, and he wasn't going to be able to get it on this airship. As far as Kurapika was concerned, the judgement chain was like a dam… if it lifted, tons of chaos and madness was sure to sweep through and drown them all. His thoughts turned to Gon, Killua, and Leorio. Their safety also rested in the balance on the single nen chain. _Not to mention his sanity…_ His thoughts helplessly turned again to the other night before he crushed them, and he blushed for the hundredth time with mortification and something else and tried _very_ hard to think of something else.

"It's your move, Kurapika-kun!" Yue's voice nudged him out of his thoughts and directed him focus to the game of chess in front of him. Both Nancy and Yue looked innocent and a bit dotty the way old people seem, but they were both absolute monsters at chess, and pressed him and anyone else they could get their hands on for a game in the lounge. Kurapika, however, was an old hand at chess, and he easily set his queen forward that had Yue grumbling to herself and squinting at the board. "You brat." She grumbled good-naturedly. "I can see what you're doing! Game's over in three moves, I can tell. You win."

Kurapika smiled at her and reached over to collect their pieces and reset the board. "Don't give me too much credit, Yue-san. _I _don't even know what I'm going to do yet."

"Don't be modest boy." she snapped at him. "And to think, _I _consider myself quite a master at this." Her eyes than focused on something behind Kurapika and he tensed. He just knew who it was. Adrenaline made his heart rate pick up.

"Kuroro-san, dear boy, come over will you? Are you any good at chess?" Yue asked wolfishly, sizing him up. "You look like you might give Kurapika here a challenge, god knows he needs it after beating me and Nancy all morning." Kurapika turned and saw the man looking as groomed and well-built as ever pause on his way through the lounge. _Keep on walking._ Kurapika willed fruitlessly in his mind.

"Well I wouldn't call myself an expert, but I know the rules," Kuroro answered. "I'd love to, I might even pick up a few tips from Kurapika here." Yue grinned at him, scooted over on the couch, and patted the seat.

"Well what are you waiting for!"

"Yue-san," Kurapika interrupted quickly. "I'm not feeling too well right now. Might have been something I had for breakfast. Why don't you play Kuroro? I know you love new opponents. I think I'll go back to my room to sleep this off."

Yue frowned at him and without warning she placed a hand to his forehead with a contemplative look. "You're fine, Kurapika," dismissing his "sickness" entirely. "This game won't even take long and we wouldn't want Kuroro-san to think you were avoiding him now do we?" She said that completely obliviously, simply meaning to joke her way into getting Kurapika to agree, but Kurapika jolted as if she had shocked him with electricity. He gritted his teeth, and then he heard the other chuckling and decided well _fine, _he'd destroy him at chess. He'd be sure to feel better about himself afterwards anyway. So he bared his teeth at the dark-haired man in a challenging parody of smile.

"I won't hold back Kuroro-san."

"Oh, I would _never_ wish for you to do that." Kuroro said. He took his seat and spent a minute examining the board, picking up the pieces, and rolling the wooden figurines between his long fingers- seemingly memorizing the shape and texture. "Chess is war disguised as a game. Fascinating to think about, though I don't get to play very often so forgive me if I don't meet expectations."

"'All war is based on deception.' Kurapika responded back lightly. 'Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.' Do I have reason to believe you're secretly actually very good?" He wanted the other to know… he of all people wasn't going to have the wool pulled over his eyes. Kuroro was the epitome of deception. He also guessed based on what he know of Kuroro's personality that he would make it his business to be at the _very least_ decent at chess.

Kuroro actually gave a short laugh. "Very good, those were quotes from _The Art of War _by Sun Tzu_, _no? A classic, though occasionally wrong at times." He let Kurapika take the white pieces, and waited for the first move.

Kurapika wasn't quite what to make of this current conversation, but Kuroro seemed oddly enthused about talking about books. He pushed his first pawn forward.

"_The Art of War?"_ Nancy piped in. "That sounds familiar, though I know I haven't read it."

"Oh you old ninny," Yue sighed, "That's where 'If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt' comes from.' Let's see them apply that to chess of all things."

"You're right," Kuroro agreed, and he advanced his own black pawn. "Chess isn't a good example. Sun Tzu was very much of the opinion that the 'supreme art of war is to subdue your enemy without fighting.' Multiple references to that in his work. Chess doesn't lend itself very well to diplomacy now though, don't you think Kurapika?" There was a hawkish, knowing look in his eyes directed at Kurapika when he said "subdue," and Kurapika remembered how Kuroro always seemed to manage to control the atmosphere of situations even without the slightest bit of nen.

"Definitely not. But it's assumed that you and your enemy already have deep, un-resolvable issues, and the stage for diplomacy was long gone as an option. Sun Tzu does account for failed peace." Kurapika didn't know when exactly this conversation assumed an undercurrent filed with subtext, but he suspected Kuroro was as usual enjoying it.

"Oh? Remind me. What does he say?" The teasing quality in Kuroro's voice was back.

"I'm quite sure he said exactly this: 'Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move…'" this time Kurapika smirked at Kuroro. "'Fall like a _thunderbolt.'" _It was of course a barely veiled reference to the sheer success of the plan he had pulled at Yorknew City. Of darkness and a long zigzagging bolt of nen-enhanced chains. He purposefully moved his queen forward. "Check."

Kuroro smiled again. It was admirable that the Kurta sought to shake him, but Kuroro had many years to hone his countenance, and he had never lost it since. The Kurta as expected was shaping up to be a marvelous adversary. The queen movement was rather genius; he truly hadn't seen it coming. He could, however, see the blonde's _next_ moves as if were highlighted on the board in red. He would be forced into check after check for at least the next few turns… he was approaching losing with a lackluster and undeveloped defense, but he was also close to winning himself. All he needed were two conditions: one free turn not forced to get out of check, and to lure a certain piece to a certain spot on the board…

He took his king in hand and moved it closer to the middle of the board. "Very nice, it looks like you've got me on the run." _Yes, in some way, I have been on the run after losing my nen, no?_ _A race to get it back. _

Kurapika dogged his king, and Kuroro sent his own king clear across the board to cozy up with Kurapika's. And then. He saw it. His chance. He ducked his king behind one of Kurapika's pawns. His queen would now need two turns to round the pawn before being able to put him in check again or move the rook to back up the queen. That one move was all he needed. Kurapika blinked in surprise as Kuroro took his hand away from the king he had been moving solely for the last several turns and took hold of his knight.

"'Begin by seizing something which your opponent holds dear; then he will be amenable to your will.'" Kuroro quoted as well. He put his knight down and in a flash Kurapika realized he had been careless. The knight stood at its new spot: two perfect L's shapes away from both his queen and his king. A fork. _A trap._ He was forced to move his king away from harm at the expense of the black knight taking his queen. The subtext wasn't lost on him either. Gon. Killua. Hostages. Every interaction with this man was indeed a war, and it was a constant struggle to maintain his position.

The game continued. At that point, they were evening trading pieces, but every trade put Kurapika more and more at a disadvantage. The longer Kuroro had a queen and he didn't skewed the game against his favor. Even now as he pushed a piece forward, he realized he was losing ground. If the game continued the way it was going, he would be finished. Kurapika felt familiar frustration well up within him as well as a smidgeon of respect. Kuroro really was not your average villain. He was book-smart and tactics-smart and damn it, he had never seen the man budged from his comfort zone.

Suddenly, there was rapid ringing noise, and Kurapika watched as Kuroro frowned and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. He only saw the name flashing on the front for a mere second before Kuroro slipped it back inside his pocket as well as turning the sound off. He felt his blood run cold. _Hisoka._ What was the man up to? Helping Kuroro now was his closest guess. The clown would be absolutely delighted if Kuroro got his nen back…

"Sorry. This is an important call. I need to take this." He apologized to all of them. He turned to Kurapika. "I hope to play you again someday." he smiled that darn smile.

"You're not going to finish this game?" Asked Yue groaning. "Just as it was getting interesting too… You two are such.. what do you young people call it these days. Nerds! You two are such huge nerds." Kurapika had almost forgotten that the two women had been watching the match avidly.

Kuroro laughed at that. "One last quote then for everyone then. 'When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not, under the wrong circumstances, press a desperate foe too hard.' I'll play you again someday, Kurapika. And I hope to play Nancy and Yue-san as well." He waved them goodbye and then left, hand already slipping into his pocket to call Hisoka back.

"Che." Yue snorted. "He is one hell of a cocky little brat. 'Desperate' foe indeed, Kurapika!" But her tone was affectionate. Kurapika laughed to be polite, but his mind was whirling. He needed to find out what Kuroro knew about nen removal. Immediately. For all he knew, Hisoka was waiting for him as soon as the airship landed to remove his judgment chain. There was always the possibility that Hisoka would kill the spider head himself and save himself the worry, but Kurapika wasn't sure. There was a certain mentality, almost disease like in nature, that all elite fighters had: they were merciful most towards the most helpless of people and the most powerful of people. That's because it was lonely at the top, and only fellow elite fighters _knew_ what kind of training, pain, personal strength, and sheer _time_ was needed to get to that level… and you don't help your own endangered species by killing them off. All of them were bound by a similar history, and Hisoka was more likely to fight, declare Kuroro not yet _quite_ ripe, and let him go free to fight another day. He sensed the same mentality in Gon, the way the boy threw himself in Hisoka's (and harm's) way again and again with a bright smile without ever giving off real bloodlust. Killua as well, a somewhat reformed assassin that delighted in the adventures that they got into and saw the world in terms of power instead of black and white morality. Leorio he mused was by far the most normal, being a doctor and all. He himself wasn't quite immune… If Kuroro was anyone else but the spider head, he _might_ have enjoyed today, _might_ have enjoyed playing chess with him again and again, _might_ have enjoyed the undeniable brilliance of his personality and cleverness… but as it was, Kuroro was a man Kurapika could not find any justification or redeeming factor in his principles for. He was simply the man who had orchestrated the death of his friends, family, and entire childhood, and that would forever stand between them.

-x-x-x-

Kuroro was loathe to leave the chess game half way through, but after walking away, realized he preferred it this way. The real victor, in both chess and in their real clashes, has yet to be decided. He knew Kurapika was capable still of winning- he had a smaller and weaker force, yes, but that didn't stop him the first time, did it? The dark-haired man found he was pleased with not knowing, and the fact that the future was unknown pleased him as well.

"Hisoka?" He had redialed his number after walking away from Kurapika's hearing range. He made his way back up to his room.

"Maa, look who called me. I was considering just leaving you in the dark after you didn't pick up." As usual, Hisoka's slow drawling voice didn't phase him.

"What is it?"

"So straight to the point." There was a sigh. "The two kids are here as well."

"They ones Nobunaga are so fond of?" Kurapika's two intriguing allies.

"Yes. They found me on Greed Island. They suspect. Or at least, Killua-kun does."

"How does this concern me?"

He heard the chuckle on the other end. "They will try and stop us, and I don't want to kill them." The unspoken _yet_ hung in the air. "You told me Kurapika-kun is on the ship with you. It shouldn't be hard, but make absolutely sure he doesn't come to Greed Island with you."

"You have nothing to worry about. The Kurta has his own destination."

"Make sure of that Kuroro." Hisoka threatened sweetly. "I would hate to postpone our fight again."

"You have nothing to worry about." Kuroro said again, bored. "Make sure _you_ don't get sidetracked by those kids… Gon, was it?"

"_Yes."_ The voice on the other end sounded like it couldn't contain itself.

"I'll talk to you later." There was a moment in which he wanted to make a jabbed comment about the nature of Hisoka's interest in Gon, but he stopped himself in time. He was dangerously close to that level of obsession with Kurapika himself, wasn't he? He remembered the way Kurapika's smaller, athletic body had fit against his own muscled frame as he tried to cow the other with his proximity. Youth and energy hummed beneath that skin, and he was sure that if he had decided he wanted to use his sexuality as a tool to intimidate the other, the other would positively _writhe_ under him. The other was far too inexperienced to have any line of defense, he was sure.

Kuroro already acknowledged the Kurta's attractiveness. In fact, he had made it a point to tell the Kurta that to his face twice. Even when back in Yorknew City, he had not been entirely unaffected by that arresting face and blazing eyes. When he wrote fortunes for his troupe, he was a little surprised that some mentions of the Kurta were described as half angel, half death-bringer; he wasn't sure how fortunes could reflect his bias like that. He had barely time to truly experiment with the stolen ability though, before his nen was shut down completely.

Again, _the_ thought crossed his mind. Kurapika would be an absolutely magnificent addition to the Genei Ryodan. Unfortunately, the other had a grudge with them and would never join, and if he did, his abilities were designed to combat the spider, not fight alongside it. Both were near impossible, though not totally impossible, to change, but Kuroro could clearly imagine Kurapika killing himself over joining him or being forced to exchange his trump card powers for different ones.

Really, Kuroro didn't think it was an over-exaggeration to say of all people in the world, Kurapika would be the most difficult by FAR to convince to join the Ryodan. Maybe that was just another reason why he couldn't seem to shake the rather attractive idea out of his head despite the obvious problems.

But he was getting far ahead of himself. His priorities were with getting his nen back and assuring the health of his remaining spiders.

-x-x-x-

The next time Kurapika saw Kuroro, neither Yue nor Nancy were there to buffer between them. He had gotten up early because he couldn't sleep, and the airship's lights were still dim to reflect the barest hint of dawn outside. He hadn't brought his own laptop on the journey, so the previous night was spent asking as many different patrons if he could to borrow theirs. Getting internet was another story all in its own, but once he was connected and did his research on the intricacies of nen removal, he found himself tossing and turning all night long. It _was_ possible. More than possible. There were people known as "nen exorcists" that for an exorbitant fee would free an individual from the burdens of another's nen. No one was listed as one on the Hunter website and it seemed an exceedingly rare ability indeed, but Kurapika was sure with the right resources, a nen exorcist would not be hard for the likes of Kuroro or Hisoka to find.

The breakfast bar was still setting up when he got there, so he accepted a glass of water and took a seat along a massive window that stretched from floor to ceiling. On the other side of the thick glass, he could see the sun's hidden rise cast glows upon the clouds and could just barely make out the twinkling of cities far below them. He took a sip of water and tried hard to relax. _What should I do? _

It was in that moment that Kuroro waltzed in. He greeted the breakfast bar employees with a suave smile that made it clear he came down early regularly before his dark eyes roved over to make contact with Kurapika's. The suave smile only widened and before Kurapika had time to think of an escape plan, Kuroro was already striding towards him.

"Good morning, you're up early today." Kuroro began cordially.

"Cut the small talk." Kurapika growled. "There's no one here for you to impress or fool."

Kuroro gently placed a book on the table before taking a seat directly across from Kurapika.

"I know." he said simply. "It wasn't intended to be mere small talk." He flipped his book to the right orientation before running a finger down the spine reverentially. "I usually come early to see the sunrise and read. It's rather peaceful."

Kurapika grumpily stared out the window and refused to acknowledge the spider further. Part of him wanted to leave, but suddenly it felt too akin to running away. And part of him wanted to use this time in which no one was around to get some truthful answers out of the spider… or at least try.

Fiddling with his water, he observed as Kuroro found the page where he had left off and started reading. It looked like a huge tome, and as Kuroro studied the words dressed in his usual white dress shirt, Kurapika found himself thinking that the other looked every inch like a harmless contemplative philosopher. Maybe a mild-mannered professor in the way he tilted his head and had the barest lingering smile on his face as he soaked up the words. He just looked… so normal. He was a far cry from the terrifying man in black leather. When his hair was slicked back and he left his furry leather coat open to purposely expose a broad wall of muscled chest, he _looked_ like the seasoned killer that Kurapika knew him to be.

Kurapika knew the man in front of him was brilliant and powerful. He had to be, to be the leader of people murderously strong and able to command their complete loyalty. He also knew he had gotten rather lucky capturing him the first time. His thoughts wandered back to the ones that had plagued him all night… if Kuroro got rid of the nen chains, would he be able to lock him back down with chain jail again? And even if he did… couldn't Kuroro just get them removed again? _What should he do?_ He thought helplessly. _If not now, then later. If not later, then eventually. _Kuroro would have his nen back, and Kurapika couldn't dedicate his life to locking the spider down again and again. He had a job to find his clan-mate's eyes! And that, he had firmly told himself, was the most important task he could complete in his lifetime. All men died eventually after all, and Kuroro was no exception. Could he… kill the other? He almost winced at the thought. He had told his friends he was done with revenge… and he planned to keep that promise. His friendships he realized he valued almost as highly as his own life. He wouldn't disappoint Gon, Killua, and Leorio like that. Plus… he wouldn't be able to bring himself to take out the spider when he was nen-less anyway. Principles.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Kurapika found the dark eyes no longer reading but locked on him…studying with that piercing inscrutable look. He felt a shiver go down his spine.

"It's nothing." he said firmly. When Kuroro raised his brow in skepticism, Kurapika decided he for once, really wanted to win a verbal confrontation. Or _at least _make the spider a little more scared of him.

"Actually, I was considering whether or not I should kill you."

And for once, Kurapika was pleased at the short look of surprise that crossed his face. But then he had the gall to laugh. "And what did you decide?"

"I haven't decided yet." Kurapika lied flippantly, nose in the air. "Depends on you."

The other closed his book and leaned forward, lacing his fingers together. "I'm intrigued. What would be the conditions for you _not_ killing me?"

Kurapika saw his chance. "Where are you_ really _going? You're obviously not visiting any cousins."

"I've told you. Multiple times. I'm looking to remove your judgment chain." Kuroro's hand pressed against his heart.

"And..?" Kurapika pressed. "Have you already found an exorcist?"

"Now why on earth would I tell you that."

"I might _not _kill you depending on the answer."

And those dark eyes seemed to look straight into his soul before he said, "Well, you seem already to know the answer to that." And Kurapika realized he did. Kuroro _must _have an exorcist in his pocket if he was willing to travel. "Well?" he was being pressed now. "Have you decided _now_ whether you plan to kill me?"

Kurapika breathed out harshly. "_You_ already know the answer to _that _too_,_ you damn spider." The conversation had gotten nowhere.

"Well I'm glad that's out of the way." Kuroro grinned. "Now, what were you thinking _before_ that?" Before that? Kurapika thought. He had been thinking of… the faintest red made their way to his cheeks.

"_Nothing."_ he answered. He realized that was a bad answer as soon as he said it, so he switched tactics. "Fine. I was wondering what book you were reading. Philosophy?"

Kuroro looked amused. "Does it look like I read philosophy in my spare time?"

"A little bit." Kurapika said.

Kuroro shook his head. "I do admit I'm rather fond of philosophy, but today's just _Les Miserables._" He hefted the thick tome into the air and revealed the front.

"-Is that in _french?" _Kurapika asked in surprise. He recognized the name of course, it was a brilliant french novel that he had read (in translated Japanese) back when he was still undergoing schooling. He somehow was surprised that the spider was reading a novel of all things. He seemed like a nonfiction kind of man.

"All 1,900 pages of it." He confirmed.

"When did you have time to learn french in between all of your… extra circulars?" A cold bucket of water seemed to fall on Kurapika then. He reminded himself of whom he was talking to for the billionth time.

"It was actually one of the first languages I learned. I taught it to myself from various french manuals found in Meteor City's dumps. All so, actually, that I could read _Les Miserables._"

_Meteor City. _He tried to remember what he knew about Meteor City: He remembered the sad story Kuroro had spun to Yue and Nancy about his life there. He already knew that the Spider was from Meteor City, but he doubted the story Kuroro told was true. When he had been in Yorknew, Leorio had explained the complicated relationship between the Mafia and the members of Meteor City. He almost wanted to ask more- there was no real documentation about Meteor City after all, but he refrained.

He realized then that… he actually had a lot of questions for the spider head. He wanted to know what Meteor City was like. He wanted to know what kind of philosophical concepts the other subscribed to. He wanted to know _his_ version of what went down at Yorknew. He wanted to know how he managed to survive Zeno and Silva's assassination attempts. He wanted to know how he managed to place fake bodies. He wanted to know what exactly Kuroro planned to do when he got his nen back. He wanted to know exactly _what_ those nen abilities actually were. He wanted to know why the other killed and stole. He wanted to know if he felt remorse. He realized that he wanted to know _everything. _

It was then that he also realized the sun was shining through the window and he had missed the sunrise completely. People were filtering in to get breakfast and the once empty tables to the side of them were filling up. They were no longer alone. Reluctantly, Kurapika realized the private opportunity for the day was over and he rose to his feet.

They didn't say goodbye as they parted ways. There was no need.

-x-x-x-

_Here we are! Our lovely gentlemen are on their way to getting just a little bit emotionally closer. Kurapika finds himself interested in Kuroro as a human being and you have Kuroro being his natural self and experiencing the attraction. Like I said earlier, this chapter was harder to write since there were so many things they could have talked about and so many ways it could have gone down, so I almost feel bad choosing one of the less explosive/intense routes. But all for the goal of slow romancing! _


	5. The Villain

Hello everyone! As always, thanks for the reviews! It's so motivating, truly. A few notes: I should point out that this story is officially AU although I will be doing my utmost best to leave it within the parameters of canonical facts. I also should point out that I have only watched the 2011 anime (I'm watching the 1999 right now) and have never read the manga. I have also watched Phantom Rouge, the movie for HXH and its fantastic! Anyway, this chapter is the longest by far, here it is. :3

-x-x-x-

For the next few days, Kurapika was sure not to enter the breakfast bar early. It was clearly Kuroro's domain. However, there were days that he woke up early for some inexplicable reason, and he would stare into the quiet darkness of his room and imagine Kuroro already downstairs and nursing his book of the day while keeping an eye on the upcoming sunrise. Sometimes, he would fall back asleep easily. Sometimes he felt so awake and buzzing that he wanted to go downstairs and ask Kuroro all the burning questions that had been on his mind. Something in the back of mind always gave him a reason not to.

During the day, he continued to see Kuroro occasionally as Yue and Nancy's whims allowed. There were no more chess games, as Yue and Nancy seemed to finally had enough and were now engrossed in ship gossip instead.

"Have you heard yet, Kurapika dear?" Nancy exclaimed one morning. "Someone in the East wing had their room broken into last night. Luckily, the girl had been awake in bed and she screamed. Her neighbors came running although not before the intruder hit her pretty bad." She pointed across the lounge to a petite blonde girl with a bandage around her left eye and her left temple. Her remaining sky blue eye was full of anger as she was animatedly recounting what had happened the previous night to a growing crowd of listeners.

"Do they know who did it?" Kurapika asked. It wasn't very smart, he thought, to try to attack or steal anything on an airship. There was no exit, no escape. Everyone would be looking for you. Unless of course, you were a nen user, and then the possibilities to escape were endless.

Nancy shook her head. "No. Poor girl only got a quick look before she was out cold. She did say he had black hair."

"Like that helps at all, fool girl." Yue snorted. "That's quite a lot of people she's putting suspicion on though. Honestly if I were her I'd swipe any bastard that tried to enter my room across the face. Then the whole world would know who it was." She grinned darkly and Kurapika had to laugh with her.

"Have they found any clues yet to why they did that?" Nancy asked Yue curiously.

Yue sighed. "No. He did rummage through all of her things, so maybe he was looking to steal. She says that he didn't take anything though… sounds like he was looking for something pretty specific instead of just cash."

"Oooh. What do you think it was? Taking back a ring perhaps? Maybe it was a lover's spat gone wrong!" Nancy theorized.

"Don't be stupid," Yue snapped. "If it were a lover's spat, she'd recognize him!" Suddenly, the two of them reminded him very much of Gon and Killua in the way they bantered and he felt a bittersweet smile on his lips.

"Oi oi! Kuroro-san!" Yue called. Kurapika merely sighed as the other came over. He was honestly so used to the other's presence aboard the ship that it had taken him a few encounters to realize his eyes weren't activating upon sight anymore. No twinge at all. It was much too draining anyway to have them flare up two to three times a day, so Kurapika considered it a good thing. He listened with half an ear as the tale was recounted to Kuroro as well. There was a brief moment in which it looked like Kuroro suddenly flicked his gaze up to look at Kurapika as if he had suddenly thought of something. The moment was short though, and Kurapika was unable to discern what had just gone through his head.

"That's too bad." Kuroro said when he was brought up to speed. "I hope they catch him soon, or we might have a problem."

"What do you mean by that?" Nancy asked.

"Sounds like he didn't find what he was looking for. They'll probably try again and get caught though." He shrugged dismissively.

-x-x-x-

Kuroro was right. But only partly. A day later, another young girl's room had been broken into. This time, it was clear the intruder was looking for something and simply didn't have time or cared to clean up after himself. Her furniture was completely askew, torn from their bolts, and her belongings were strewn on one side of the room as if the intruder had systematically gone through every article and deposited the checked ones in the corner. The girl herself could be seen banging angrily on the administration's door, her golden hair bouncing furiously with every punch. "Refund me!" She threatened. "The locks on your doors are _shit!" _

Yue and Nancy had taken it upon themselves to be amateur detectives. Tea times were now spent squinting at a sheet of paper that listed every black haired individual on the airship. Kurapika noticed Kuroro on the list as well, but Yue easily crossed him out.

"What do you think about _him?"_ Nancy whispered to Kurapika, pointing across the room at a black-haired man pacing to and fro and yelling into a cellphone. "Think he could have done it?"

"Obviously not." Yue remarked a-matter-of-factly, squinting at the far-off man. "He's _muuuch_ too fat. There's no way he could have had the ability to ransack a room like that in less than an hour that she was gone."

"What about that one?"

"Really you have to ask? Cross him out. He's too skinny. Too weak."

"Okay then what about this one?"

"Too stupid."

"_That _one?"

"Too smart."

At Nancy's incredulous look, Yue clarified, "What idiot would rob an airship while we're no where near landing?" It was a thought that had gone through Kurapika's mind as well, but Kurapika could think of one exception. _Nen._ Nen user's abilities manifested in many different ways, and of those ways, were skills like teleportation, flying, and maybe even the ability to jump out of an airship and survive the impact.

"Well alright." Nancy said doubtfully, but she dutifully crossed it off as well. It was kind of like a game to the two of them, and it was clear they liked speculating about who it might be. That all changed though, the day after.

-x-x-x-

There was a deathly silence on the ship. It was like an oppressive hand was squeezing the airship tighter and tighter and everyone forgot how to breathe. A third girl's room was attacked… but she had not been nearly as lucky as the last two.

For those who had been there after the first scream was heard, it was an image that they only managed to describe to others after a shot of hard liquor. A single thin rapier. Struck straight through the girl's eye, into her skull, and pinned to the wall. The blood in her blonde, blonde hair was stark. The message written on the white wall, starker still. "_Where are THEY._"

When Kurapika sat down in the afternoon with Yue and Nancy, they were both grim faced. In front of them was a new list of people. They had eliminated everyone on the previous list without narrowing it down to a solid candidate, and this time, they planned to be more thorough. They weren't the only group that had done this. The ship administration was also doing their best to raise security and calm down the passengers. There were both calls to quarantine the entire ship until the loose murderer was found and calls to dock immediately to let passengers out to prevent more potential deaths. The decision had been placed on hold as they were traveling over a vast desert.

A girl who had been attacked had been traveling alone. So had the last two victims. It was clear now that the one other factor that connected them all together was their golden blonde hair.

Kurapika felt a little sick. He knew what was going on. One of the owners of the six pairs of scarlet eyes must have gotten a read on him, somehow, and were attempting to either take him out, reclaim the eyes, or do both. Whatever information was given to the individual or group now on the airship hunting down the eyes was bad info though: Kurapika was a man, not a woman. But it was that very mistake that had not tipped him off to what was really going on until… this happened. He continued feeling sick.

The intruder though, must be getting impatient. Kurapika was sure that the reason the intruder had finally killed someone was because they were getting frustrated with being unable to locate him or the scarlet eyes. They were trying to flush him out! By causing the disturbance, he left several options open. 1. Passengers themselves will pick out which among them is the target. 2. He'll be able to see whose mannerisms changed. 3. He could wait for Kurapika to show himself.

Kurapika cursed. This was bad. He himself was safe since the killer definitely believed him to be female, but that still left other passengers at risk. He had to wonder whom on earth he was dealing with… Zenji? Impossible, for he knew Kurapika was a man. That could only leave the faceless six others he had wrested the eyes from. It was a shot in the dark; he had no idea who he was dealing with!

"Good afternoon everyone." It was one of the rare times Kuroro joined their little group without prompting from either Yue or Nancy. He set down a tray of hot tea and eyed the sheet sitting on the table. "Any luck?"

There were groans and sighs. "No. I honestly can't imagine anyone on this airship doing anything like that." Nancy shuddered with dismay. Yue twitched angrily before slamming down her pen.

"Despicable! Whoever it is I'm going to-" She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence.

-x-x-x-

The next morning, Kurapika woke up early. It was quiet, so quiet that he could hear the thrums of the engine chugging the vessel along. He got up and dressed. When he was downstairs in the breakfast bar, he could see Kuroro already sitting at the same booth, book missing, looking pensively out the window. There was no soft morning light that day, but thick grays and whites.

"Morning." Kuroro spoke. "I didn't expect to see you again here." _Especially after you admitted you wouldn't kill me, even with an exorcist on the horizon. _

Kurapika silently slipped into the seat across from Kuroro. How should he begin?

"I know who it is. _Omokage._"

Surprise flooded Kuroro, as well as a wrenching feel of remembered anger in his gut. He had already figured it out since the first day they described the crime to him. Then again, the man had been his ex-subordinate. He could recognize the personality in his crimes, by the taste in the air_. _But the Kurta… he shouldn't have any idea.

"Or at least, one of his puppets. The man himself isn't on board or I'd have seen him or he'd have seen me."

"You know who he is." Kuroro stated. It wasn't a question.

"Yes. Your ex-fourth spider." A feral grin. "You spiders don't clean up your own messes very well do you?"

A flash of irritation swept through Kuroro. It was true though, Omokage had been a thorn in his side since day one… he just hadn't realized and had been played a fool. "My spiders have been given standing orders to eliminate Omokage." Kuroro said.

"A work in progress, eh?" A jab. It seemed the Kurta could have a cutting tongue on him as well. He ignored it.

"Tell me. How did you becoming acquainted with my dear ex-subordinate?" _And come out unscathed. _

Kurapika growled. "He stole my eyes by using a doll of my deceased clansmen."

Well well, Kuroro mused. _That_ must have pissed off the blonde to degrees he himself had yet to see. He dearly wished he had been there to see it, especially since the precocious blonde seemed to have come out with his eyes intact.

"Hisoka was there. Your spiders showed up eventually as well." Kurapika continued emotionlessly. "Omokage made dolls of all the members of the troupe, you included. We thought we defeated him because the doll of his sister seemingly betrayed him and burned his body… But I should have known better. Dolls can't disobey. Likely it was a ruse to fake his death and shake your spiders off his tail. It's not a new trick, he did the same thing to escape Hisoka when he was replaced."

"He'll regret that." Kuroro promised. The idea that he had been cloned, albeit inferiorly, was still a form of thievery that insulted the worldwide undisputed king of thieves.

"Not soon enough." Kurapika lashed out. "Your spiders all think he's dead."

"Exactly." Kuroro cut in, eyes boring into Kurapika. "Which begs the question of why one of his puppets is roaming around on this airship risking exposure from me. He doesn't know I've lost my nen and he would never risk a confrontation with me." The way Kuroro said that last part with both confidence and bloodlust made Kurapika wonder what exactly the history was between the two… and what exactly Kuroro's battle skills were. "Which means it's you. Or I suppose rather your eyes he's after. He's a collector after all."

Kurapika shook his head. "He doesn't know I'm here. He wouldn't risk exposing himself to me either. He's not after my eyes… this time at least." He paused, and dammit, he was the slightest bit embarrassed to say this… "He's only attacked blonde women up to this point. This leads me to believe that I slipped up somewhere…they must have gotten a blurry glimpse of me on camera when I reclaimed one of my clansmen's eyes. He must have been hired to recapture the eyes without knowing exactly who I truly was and thought he could use the situation to his own advantage. Damn, the last pair I got had a tracker on it that I got rid of a tad too late… they must have figured out I was heading out of Yorknew."

"Stealing the eyes now are we?" Kuroro wasn't sure if Kurapika intended to reveal that he had in his possession at least one other pair of eyes, but he was sharp enough to dig.

As expected, Kurapika bristled. "_Reclaiming._ Reclaiming something precious and priceless. To have to barter for what rightfully belongs to my clan with _money…_ It's a distaste I went through once and will never do so again! It's- It's..!" He seemed to struggle with controlling his temper.

"I agree." Kuroro said. "Money is pretty distasteful, no?"

"NO!" Exploded Kurapika in disagreement immediately, knowing what Kuroro was implying. "Don't even dare suggest what I have done and what you have done are the same things! You- you-!"

"And why not? I recognize value for value, not value for money. I steal priceless valuables that belong to much better than the pig with the most money." Kuroro knew he was purposefully pressing the Kurta's most sensitive buttons, but it was all calculated. The glint of steel never left his eyes as he continued to bait the other.

"So YOU?!" Kurapika growled out. "You're better? Don't make me laugh! You'll appreciate something beautiful, maybe, but you never really value it. You just sell it back to the highest bidder! You make your fortune off those so-called pigs with money."

"The people I sell to are of the highest class, I assure you." Kuroro smirked. "And money _does_ have its uses. Especially when we have a hometown like Meteor City."

"Don't lie to me." Kurapika fumed. "There's no point to you lying to me. You can't explain how I've had to take back the eyes from some of the worst scum I've ever met..!" Kurapika's expression shuttered in memory, and Kuroro didn't doubt the other's words.

"Merchandise tends to move hands even after I sell it. Sometimes its stolen again, re-bought, re-introduced to the black market… It's not my concern."

"Che. You just wash your hands of it all. I have no idea how you sleep at night." Kurapika jerked his face to stare out the window, not trusting himself to face the other and not get violent.

"I walk with death everyday. Your accomplice the music hunter told you as much. There's not much to lose sleep over if I've already accepted and welcomed the possibility of the worst."

"Tell me." There was an urgency in Kurapika's eyes as he turned to face Kuroro again. "What do you feel when you kill someone?" Kurapika didn't know what he was expecting. There was a burning desire to _know. _And if he was honest, there was a certain _desperation_ to hear that the answer was _something. _He asked the same exact question to Uvogin, and the answer of _nothing_ had burned his soul with pain and anger. How can someone possibly feel _nothing?_ He also remembered Nobunaga… the man who had cried genuine tears over Uvogin's death, and yet couldn't spare a fraction of that grief for the people he had killed. So he was a little bit surprised when Kuroro answered differently.

"It depends." Kuroro had leaned back in the booth and crossed his arms.

"On what?" Kurapika demanded.

"Most of the time, I feel nothing." Kuroro said and Kurapika just looked away in disgust. They were all the same, he shouldn't have expected any different. "Because I mostly kill those who are in an occupation that accepts death. No one truly accepts death of course, but everyone has reconciled the possibility of it. It's like playing a game knowing that you might lose. I'm simply the best player."

"That's just a barbaric and uncivilized way to look at it. There's no need for your state of nature logic."

"Is it?" Kuroro glanced up sharply. "How many people die every year taking the Hunter Exam? How many get eaten by magical beasts before they even get to the end? How many are killed in the Exam itself, by other players? I don't see you shedding tears for them. That's because they made their own choice. So soldiers. Bodyguards. Mafia members-" There was a slight wicked smile as he said "Mafia" and once again Kurapika remembered the feud between residents of Meteor City and the Mafia. "Nen-users. Assassins. Hunters. The list goes on. These people I feel nothing killing." Kuroro sighed. "Your friend the Zoldyck has killed as well. Killed for _money_. Hired out his professional killing services to the pig with the most money."

Kurapika fell back against the chair and refused to answer back. Killua was _different_ from his family_,_ and he didn't need to defend him against his monster anyway. As it was, Kurapika was having a hard time controlling himself. He wanted to call out the elephant in the room. He wanted to ask Kuroro about the Kurta Massacre, where tens of _children_ were slaughtered as well. He wanted to rage against the man. But suddenly he didn't feel ready for that conversation. Kuroro had said "it depends." and suddenly, it was good enough for Kurapika- the vague hint that his clan fell under some other umbrella than "nothing." It was enough for Kurapika to swallow a little bit of his pride and ask for help.

"Enough." Kurapika finally said quietly. "I didn't come down here first thing in the morning for this. I need to know more about Omokage."

"Why?" Asked Kuroro flatly. "From what I understand he's not yet tipped off to either of our presences yet. Which is good. I have no intention of fighting his puppet in the least as I am now. Likely we'll be able to reach our destination without trouble for either of us."

"How can you say that?!" Kurapika growled, nearly standing up in agitation. "Did you- did you- _see_ that girl?"

"Which one?" Was the even flatter reply.

Kurapika just shuddered in memory… He remembered the blonde girl that had run into the lounge the previous day. She had been screaming. Her eyes were nothing more than black holes. There had been no blood. But then again… that was the effect of _his_ work. And that was when the identity of the culprit hit him across the face.

"Omokage clearly knows from the last tracker data from the eyes that they're are likely aboard this ship." Kurapika said. "He's not going to stop looking for them. Until then, who knows how many other people will get hurt! No! I need to eliminate the puppet immediately!"

"Kurta. You needn't care so much. Like I said, chances are, we'll both land safely." He answered calmly. Kuroro also found that he was hesitant to place the other in any sort of danger… after all, if Kurapika died, there was no telling how badly the judgment chain around his heart would react. Chances are it would kill him.

"I don't expect _you_ to understand." Kurapika snarled. "I'm not asking you to. I'm just asking you for details on his abilities. You would know best." Kurapika nearly saw red. It was always the same when dealing with these spiders. They cared only about themselves!

"I refuse." Kuroro said back. "There is only a puppet on board, not Omokage himself. If we eliminate it, he'll be aware of us and any edge we have in the future knowing he is alive is gone." He shook his head. "Just use your head for a minute!"

"I don't understand." Kurapika asked heatedly, perplexed. "I know for a fact that you want Omokage dead! Revealing his powers can only help you!"

"And he will be killed." Kuroro promised. "I will give the rest of my comrades the pleasure of finishing him off."

"That's simply unacceptable. I have to stop his puppet _now _and I can't trust your spiders to take him out when my other priority is to make sure the man himself can't get his hands on any other pairs of my clan's eyes!"

"I apologize." Kuroro said coldly. "I can't help you princess."

"Tch!" Kurapika had to take a minute to compose himself lest he lunge across the table to grab the other and shake him. He also needed all his wits about him to convince or trick the other into telling him Omokage's weaknesses. Kurapika understood Kuroro's brilliance first-hand, and he was convinced that since Omokage had been his subordinate for at least the time of the Kurta Massacre, the boss would have a more solid understanding of the intricacies of Omokage's powers than himself. Even though Kurapika had fought against the other first hand, he had been unable to pick up any weaknesses and worse, needed help from Gon, Killua, and Hisoka to capture him in chain jail. He needed to be smart in approaching Omokage for a second time, and he couldn't afford to lose his eyes like last time.

"Alright. I'll make it worth your while." Kurapika finally said. "An information trade. I will tell you about each of my abilities if you tell me about Omokage's." He could _feel_ the other stiffen in surprise. Honestly, he wasn't sure if such a plan was a good idea, but it was the one piece of leverage he could use.

"Oh? You're an idiot." Kuroro said smiling. "You'd sell out your own secrets?" He had thought the blonde was self-destructive with a hero-complex, but this still came out of the blue, for the blonde was also supposed to be cautious and wily.

"Of course. It's _leverage._"

Kuroro was tempted. He _really_ would love a demonstration of each of the five chains that even now he could see connected to each of the Kurta's fingers. At the same time though, it was more important to discourage Kurapika from engaging with Omokage's puppet. He had a hunch that maybe they had to worry about more than one puppet. Omokage was thorough like that. At the same time though, Kurapika seemed likely to act on his own with or without Kuroro's help. He had to think fast to protect his interests.

"No deal." Kuroro could tell Kurapika had lost his patience with him entirely.

"Fine." The blonde grit out. He was on his feet stiffly and walking away when Kuroro's hand struck like a snake and grasped Kurapika's wrist.

"I'm not done. I will tell you everything I know about Omokage's abilities if and _only_ if," he suddenly pulled Kurapika and the other was forced back into his seat. "You agree to spend your nights in my cabin." He waited for the explosion.

The red that suddenly suffused through the blonde's cheeks like he had been lit on fire amused Kuroro to no end. "WHAT! I-I," he was having trouble finding words around his confusion and shock. "WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING!"

"It's an easy request." Kuroro responded. "You're better off with this deal than the one you offered."

Kurapika's mouth clicked shut, but Kuroro could tell he was full of suspicion. "I'm asking _why _bastard."

_So I can track your movements and intervene if Omokage actually puts your life at risk to save my own. _"Because I can. Because through simple observation I can glean much more than whatever you choose to show me yourself, although you might beg to differ." Kuroro didn't want to tell the other he was actually quite afraid of Kurapika dying. It might make him more reckless than he already was. "Also…" He grinned, taking advantage of Kurapika's burning face. "I'd like to see more of you. You're a pretty hard man to get a hold of." He could also admit to himself that he rather enjoyed conversation with the Kurta, although he was sure the other did _not_ feel the same way.

He could visibly see Kurapika fighting with himself, could see him weighing a cost benefit analysis in his head. It was beautiful. To have someone who normally would breathe fire at the mere mention of a spider now calmly attempt to rationalize potentially sharing the same breathing space was marvelous.

"You have a deal." Kurapika finally said. He seemed to have bought Kuroro's explanation of observation. Looking at the hard set of Kurapika's eyes, Kuroro knew he was already planning how to best close himself off and not give anything away. There was another stubborn and excited glint that told Kuroro that Kurapika realized it was very much a double-edged sword… as much as Kururo could observe Kurapika, Kurapika could do the same. He shrugged; his priority now was to make it intact to Greed Island. Unfortunately, the side effect of that was making sure the Kurta also made it in one piece. Once his nen was back, the battlefield would change again, and there would be new rules to learn.

"Now." Kurapika insisted. "I need to know Omokage's abilities."

Kuroro sighed and folded a napkin in half while he considered where to start. "His puppets' observational skills were never very good. They may have memories of the person they're modeled after and are forced to follow his instructions, but they can't recognize a man they haven't met before even if Omokage would recognize that person. They don't have _Omokage's_ memories after all. The only way Omokage can get around this weakness is to put his own eyes in the puppet, which of course, blinds his physical body, but then he can give more precise instructions to his doll. To separate Omokage's eyes from Omokage and then fight separately gives the best chance of success."

"Useful." Kurapika observed. "But Omokage nor a puppet with his eyes are aboard this ship hence why both of us are undiscovered, so I can't do anything about that now. Is there anyway to find a puppet?" He remembered how Gon's intuition enabled him to figure out that Retz was a doll. Himself, Killia, and Leorio conferred and realized none of them had the same ability.

"It's always in the eyes." Kuroro said. "There will be more nen in the eyes as if they were using _Gyou_. Not a lot more, but enough to tell the difference.

Kurapika nodded, impressed despite himself, as the head of the spider continued describing all the flaws, weaknesses, and even strengths of the ex-fourth's abilities. It was a conversation that he almost rarely had, for Gon, Killua, and Leorio were far more likely to attack first and ask strategic questions later. He once again had to marvel at the other's brilliance. He was piecing together the character that held a group such as the Genei Ryodan together.

When the sun finally peaked over the clouds and patrons made their way to the breakfast bar, Kurapika had almost entirely forgotten the fiery anger that accompanied the first part of the conversation. Kuroro was pleasant, patient, sharp, and refrained from caustic comments when he wanted to.

They finally made their way to their feet right after there appeared to be too many people around. "See you tonight." Kuroro smirked. That was when the good mood dissipated and Kurapika remembered what would be waiting for him when the sun set.

-x-x-x-

There was curfew now, and Kurapika didn't know if Kuroro knew about this fact or simply predicted it before it happened. He had been of the mind to avoid going back to the cabins as late as possible to avoid interaction with Kuroro. Knowing how early the other rose as well, he thought there was a good chance they won't see each other.

Unfortunately, due to the recent intrusions, assaults, and _deaths,_ everyone was on their last nerve and curfew had been called to try and make it safer. Cameras would be watching all night long, the security personnel had promised. A single person out after a certain time would be cast as suspicious immediately.

Thus, all day long, Kurapika had been dreading the coming of 9 PM. That was the time that had been agreed on as curfew. During the day, he continued to keep Nancy and Yue company while activating _Gyou_ time and time again to check the people around him for nen around their eyes. There were quite a few nen-users around, or at least, people with the potential for nen, and sometimes it was hard to pinpoint if the extra bit of nen in the eyes were just variation or a clue to something more sinister. Needless to say, he didn't see anyone that tipped off the alarm bells in his head.

Kuroro had dropped by to visit them like was becoming a common occurrence. He was in a fairly somber mood as the current situation dictated, but underneath that, Kurapika thought he could feel the aura of satisfaction. There were no more incidents that day, and for that Kurapika felt grateful. He still hadn't managed to scan all the passengers- it was clear some hung out in their rooms all day or he otherwise missed them, and he hoped to have some solid candidates before more shit hit the fan.

When it was 8:30, he told Nancy and Yue he was turning in early for the night while they were still chattering. Instead of going back, however, he merely dropped by to collect his personal affects before locking his door and making his way over to Kuroro's side of the ship. _Room 114._

He had to take a deep breath before he mustered up the courage to knock. His heart was pounding against his ribs and _holy shit_ he couldn't believe what he was doing! A promise is a promise however, and Kurapika steeled himself to give nothing away while simultaneously reminding himself to do his own share of surveillance on the spider head.

Kuroro opened the door and welcomed him with a gallant gesture. "Good evening, Kurapika." And that was when Kurapika realized the other used his name for the first time.

-x-x-x-

Kuroro's room was pretty small, and Kurapika realized that he had almost been expecting an extravagant 1st class accommodation due to the spider's wealth. It was still bigger than his own room, however. It was perfectly rectangular and looked like a regular hotel room. There was a single bed, a desk, a couch, a few chairs, and a TV. Splitting off from the room was the door to the bathroom.

The first question that tumbled through his mouth was, "Where do I sleep?"

"You'll take the bed." The spider answered, pointing to the made bed. "I'm a gentleman after all, and you are a guest. The couch is a pull-out bed, which I'll take."

Kurapika only grunted in acknowledgment before he moved over to the bathroom. "I'm going to take a shower and go to sleep." He said curtly before slamming the door shut.

Kuroro smiled at the empty room before retaking his armchair next to a lamp. He picked up the book he had been reading before the blonde arrived and felt a rush of excitement go through him. Kurapika thought he wasn't giving anything away, but the truth of the matter is, it is impossible to _not _communicate. Even when the blonde was silent or brooding, it told him volumes about his personality. It wasn't a secret that personality played a huge role in nen abilities, but few people have refined translating personality into nen like him. _Except _maybe Hisoka.

Most importantly, it also put him at ease that Omokage wasn't going to be able to ambush the other… not with him here at least. He'd recognize his presence before that. Kuroro was nen-less, but even nen-less fighters were fearsome in their own right, and Kuroro was armed with enough concealed weapons and powerful senses to be a threat.

When Kurapika came out of the bathroom, he was freshly showered and changed into sleep wear. Without acknowledging the spider at all, he placed his belongings on the side of the bed furthest from the spider, and crawled into bed, intent on ignoring him through sleep.

Kuroro just kept an eye on his still form over the top of his book.

"Do you mind if I leave this lamp on?" He asked.

As expected, there was simply a "Do whatever you want. I don't care." response.

Kurapika lay in bed. He was turned on his side away from the dark-haired man, and he meant to keep it that way. His eyes were wide-awake as he stared at the wall and closed blinds. He absolutely, 100%, could not get himself to fall asleep. The room was fairly dark, the only light was the soft pale yellow glow from the lamp that Kuroro used to read by. It wasn't intrusive in the least, but it was Kuroro's presence that he was hyper sensitive to.

And what made it worse… he shifted a little bit under the covers. He failed to account for the fact that _this was his enemy's bed._ Which _meant_ that it was only natural that it would _smell _like him. Kurapika felt like smacking himself for not thinking of that, but the bed had looked like a hotel bed: well made and impersonal. _I should have taken the damn couch!_ He thought to himself angrily. All around him, practically cocooning him, was the smell of Kuroro. It was sharp, crisp, and oh so manly, and it was sending his senses in overdrive. _This_ was the smell of _danger, _his body told him. _Danger danger!_ He forced himself to stay still even though all he wanted to do was squirm or sit bolt upright and run.

He felt a bead of sweat form on his brow, and his heart continued to pound. He wasn't going to get any sleep like _this! _Frustrated, he tried to shift himself into a more comfortable position, this time on his back. He stared up at the ceiling and tried desperately to count sheep.

"Not tired?" The low baritone interrupted his thoughts and he resisted jerking in mild alarm. Irritated, he sat up and pushed himself up against the pillows and huffed.

"No."

"It's only 9:15." The spider pointed out. "Pretty early to sleep anyway."

Kurapika glanced over. The spider was looking as casual as ever in an untucked white dress shirt. The bandage he usual wrapped around his forehead was undone, and the reverse cross seemed stark even in the dim light. He found himself staring at it, emotions bubbling within him.

Kuroro reach up and tapped his forehead, smirking, showing he was all too aware of the blonde's scrutiny. "Like it?"

_Che. _Kurapika just looked away from his forehead. "Don't let Nancy ever see that. She'd be crushed."

"Ahh yes. She's rather religious, isn't she?"

"She'd be convinced you're Satan. She was already halfway there with just your name. And she'd be _right._"

Kuroro laughed. "I see you already think I'm Satan."

"Just the mortal form."

There was a pause, and Kuroro suddenly looked unsure of himself, as it he wasn't sure if he should say something. "We make a good pair then, no? The Kurta were considered demons by outsiders."

Kurapika felt pain seize him. He remembered one of his first encounters with people outside of his tribe: an old woman had hit him. Had hit him and called him a demon for his red, red eyes. "Only by the ignorant and uneducated." He said softy.

"Ignorant and uneducated, hmm?" He pointed once again to the tattoo on his forehead. "Lots of people are ignorant and uneducated. This is a sign of humility. There is no anti-religious sentiment ever originally intended, either with the original symbol or the reason I chose it, although I admit I have allowed the confusion to benefit me." Kurapika had known about the humility symbolism, but was slightly surprised the other did as well. It definitely cut an imposing figure of someone who was irreverent and rebellious and lived to defy authority, so Kurapika could see how the original meaning would be lost.

Kurapika finally gave up on sleeping (and ignoring the other) for the time being and got out of bed. He sat at the single desk and pulled out paper and pen, intent on writing down his observations for the day.

"Not intending to sleep anymore?" Kurapika might have imagined it, but he thought he heard a tinge of victory in the other's voice.

"No. I might as well put my energies to good use. I need to find the puppet."

"Have you had any luck via _Gyou?_' Kuroro asked.

Kurapika just shook it head as he wrote. All he had managed to find that day were a few people with slightly more nen around their eyes than most. It wasn't a dead giveaway at all. He wrote down their names and found himself already lost on how to proceed. He set down his pen again and sighed.

"I don't know if I can find him. The puppet is either avoiding all the common crowded areas entirely, or I'm somehow missing him." He placed his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his palm, the stress visibly hitting him.

"You should start with a potential victim." Kuroro finally offered. He eyed how weary Kurapika looked all of a sudden and didn't quite like it. "There are sure to be plenty of blonde women on the ship, but perhaps you can narrow it down to an overlap between victim and puppet."

Kurapika started. Had Kuroro just given him a good idea? He did! Was he going to ask for something in return now? He glanced over, but Kuroro was already engrossed back in his book. He turned back to the paper in front of him incredulously.

"Yeah… thanks." And did he just _thank_ the other?! The world was _definitely _falling apart, Kurapika thought furiously. Here he was with his ultimate enemy, together in a cramped room, and they were talking… _civilly. _The _wrongness_ of the situation grated and grated.

Kurapika wrote down the names of a few blonde women he remembered, but otherwise, he was done until he could re-scout the airship tomorrow. He climbed back into bed and fell asleep promptly, his brain too numb to take heed of the ever-present scent of his enemy.

-x-x-x-

_Anddd- we're done! As you can tell, I took liberties with Phantom Rouge. Anyway, still chipping away at the blocks between them before the romancy bits get involved and even to me it feels slow sigh. _


	6. The Cabin

**Newest chappie! I have not much to say about this chapter, besides the fact that I really like it and where it's going. I hope you like it too! I didn't get a chance to respond to some reviews yet, so that will be happening soon. :3**

-x-x-x-

Something woke Kurapika up. He sleepily opened his eyes before they jolted open at the unfamiliar surroundings. Bolting straight up, he noticed that it was very dark in the room. A quick glance out the window told him it was still early. He relaxed.

_That's right._ _He was in Kuroro's room._ Taking a deep breath, he glanced at the digital clock on the nightstand. 5 AM in the morning. It was only then that he realized the shower was running. Likely it was that noise which woke him up. He settled back in the sheets, intending to go back to sleep. It was only a few seconds before he was tossing and turning, unable to do so. He found himself listening to the shower water hitting the tub, the pattern sometimes disrupted by Kuroro's movements under the spray. _Stop thinking._ Kurapika growled to himself. Yet, he found he couldn't.

He was saved when the water was turned off, and there were the barest sounds of moving before the door was quietly opened. He luckily was turned away from the door and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. He couldn't hear Kuroro's footsteps, so quiet was he, but he could feel the other's presence.

A drawer was gently pulled open, and a moment later he could hear the smooth sound of cloth against skin. One arm in. Now the other one. Sounds of fluffing out the back of the shirt and collar…. Before he could stop himself, he was imagining the deft fingers quickly buttoning up his usual white dress shirt, leaving the top few deliberately undone. There was a sound of a zipper and Kurapika nearly jerked. _Pants. _He didn't though, and just focused on breathing as evenly as possible, even though his heart had started hammering for some unexplainable reason.

Kuroro seemed to collect a few other things before there was a jingle of keys, indicating he was about to leave. The door opened, and Kurapika was about to breathe a sigh of relief.

"I'll be downstairs." Kuroro said in a voice only slightly quieter than his normal tone. And then he was gone and the door closed.

Kurapika's eyes flew open in shock. He _knew_ he was awake! He sat up in bed and gingerly placed his hand over his heart, hearing the rapid fire beat. How did he know! He- just- _why-_ why was he so affected?! He wasn't blind to the slight feeling of being turned on coiling in his gut. He collapsed back down in bed and pulled the covers over his head in mortification. _Why why why! _

Then he was smelling Kuroro's scent all over again and the _zing_ that shot through him didn't help matters _one bit._ He leapt out of bed and began fumbling with his clothes. It was too hot in here. He needed to be anywhere else!

-x-x-x-

Kuroro grinned to himself as he slipped away from his room. When he had come back from his shower, the Kurta had been sleeping like an angel… and that was what tipped him off to the other's wakefulness. The previous night was quite illuminating to what a naturally sleeping Kurapika sounded like.

Kurapika had fallen sleep right when he had gotten to the last chapter of his book, and while he was eager to finish, he also took the time to examine the sleeping Kurta. He had taken his time to do so thoroughly. After all, the other was asleep and his guards were down. If he wanted to, he could finish him off with nothing but a ballpoint pen. He would never do that of course since it would risk his own life, but it was the fact that he _could_ that mattered.

In sleep, the Kurta loosened his brow and looked blankly peaceful. He could see the curve of his cheek and the point of his nose from his angle, and once again, the burning knowledge that the Kurta was _damn hot_ swept through him. He was just so open and vulnerable… Kuroro could just reach out and _steal_ him, and his fingers itched to do so. He calmed himself quickly though.

Anyway, the Kurta while sleeping _sleep-talked._ Not a lot, and very very softly, but he definitely consistently sleep-talked. Most of the time, the Kurta would make a "Mmhmm" sound- the sound that someone makes when they're agreeing with you. It was pretty adorable as the Kurta agreed with some unknown entity again and again. Sometimes, the sleep-talking would make actual words, like "yes" and "no" and "pizza" but that was few and far between compared to the mono-syllabic "Mmhmm"s. When he realized that the Kurta wasn't making _any noise_ at all the next morning, he realized with a mental laugh that he must be awake and too embarrassed to show it.

He settled himself in his usual booth and took out his book, smiling all the while.

-x-x-x-

When Kururo wasn't giving the blonde panic attacks by interrupting his tea times with the two elderly women, he was always thinking ahead. He travelled onto the deck of the airship. Right now, he could feel the shifting pieces of his future plans changing form. He was no longer certain of how he was going to deal with the blonde after he got his nen back. In fact… thinking about getting his nen back gave him the usual feeling of excitement, but it also gave him a strange sense of anxiety. This strange truce they had would vanish… something he typically considered to be a good thing.

Also… there was also the question of his attraction to the blonde. In many ways, the last Kurta drew in the spider head. He was brilliant, beautiful, and a rarity: the last of his kind. He was also a compassionate, _passionate,_ young man that was ruled by his emotions despite his calm and wary demeanor. He _wanted_ him.

He sighed to himself. His philosophy in life was simple. If he wanted something he'd take it. That was the backbone of the Genei Ryodan after all. At the same time… he found himself completely certain that that would be the wrong approach to take with the blonde _if_ he decided to act.

_If._

-x-x-x-

Kurapika sighed at the somber mood in the lounge. He was sitting in the corner this time instead of spending time with Nancy or Yue. Both had claimed to be feeling unwell and decided to stay in their rooms. That was fine with Kurapika, it gave him more time to scope out the airship without interruption.

He was feeling a headache though from using _Gyou_ for hours on end. His sheet of paper was in front of him and he also managed to obtain the master list of passengers from Nancy. A quick borrowing of a laptop allowed him to figure out which were blonde, and he got ready for a day of observation. _Buuut, his headache was killing him!_

His eyes swept across the lounge were small groups of people were scattered. The lounge was the middle ground of all the airship, if anyone wanted to get to any other location, they would have to first travel through the lounge. His eyes fell across the bar positioned flush against a wall and felt extremely tempted.

"Day drinking?" The bartender asked him sympathetically.

Kurapika only laughed politely as he took a seat and accepted the glass of scotch. "After all that's been going on, I definitely need it."

"I feel you, man." The bartender sighed. "The atmosphere is so tense on the airship, I'm surprised this hasn't gone the way of _Lord of the Flies _yet. If you ask me, we'd have a better time if more people were day drinking."

Kurapika downed the glass and welcomed the burn. He had been far too stressed lately. With thoughts of wilting revenge, his clan's eyes, a psycho on the loose, and _Kuroro_ yanking his chain, he felt like it was justified.

"Yeah maybe." He answered shortly. "As long as we don't develop a scared mob mentality, we'll be fine though-"

"WHAT? Are you accusing me of being the killer?" A loud voice traveled across the lounge and all buzzing conversation fell silent. A man had jumped to his feet, bristling in indignation.

"Oh no, we may have spoke too soon." the bartender sighed. "The last thing we need is a witch hunt…"

"I'm just saying man! Where the hell were you when she was attacked!" The accuser shot back heatedly. "You went back to your cabin around the same time she was attacked in hers… do you even have an alibi?!"

The accused was a strong looking man wearing cargo shorts and a cotton vest. His muscles bulged in anger, and it was easy to see why he had been singled out for his brutish looks. Kurapika cast _Gyou_ over them again. No signs of odd nen.

"I told you already, I went back to sleep in my room! I was there the whole time! Check the cameras or something if you don't believe me!"

"The cameras weren't _recording_ at that time, fool, we can't bloody check! Don't you remember? It's easy for a watching security guard to have missed you or something!"

There were suddenly murmurs of agreement, as if the fact that he apparently didn't know this common piece of information was more suspicious than anything else.

Kurapika eyed them over his shoulder with a narrowed look. They wouldn't dare start a brawl here would they?

"I should probably call security," the bartender said anxiously. "They look like they're way too tense…"

"Apologize to me you bastard!" the muscled man insisted. "I didn't know that, but that doesn't mean you can make these baseless accusations! I wouldn't do anything like that!"

"I don't have to apologize to some punk!" There was a flurry of movement as multiple people stood up threateningly.

_Che!_ Kurapika was about to storm into the fray to calm everyone down (it was a speciality of his), but someone beat him to the punch. Immaculately dressed Kuroro appeared out of no where.

It was like magic. Kurapika wasn't even listening to what the other man was saying, but he could hear that calm, _commanding _tone spiced with just the appropriate amount of friendliness and camaraderie to not sound patronizing talk the group of men down in seconds. Kurapika wasn't sure what motive the other had in breaking up a potential fight. The other seemed more likely to sit back and watch in amusement, after all.

_He must be a specialist._ Was the second thought that popped into Kurapika's mind. Specialists were independent and charismatic but refrained from being close to people. He should know, he was a specialist himself. Of course he was a conjurer first and foremost: high-strung and on-guard.

But anyway, Kurapika had been trying to figure out the other's nen type for a long time. He never got to see the other in battle and had zero idea of what his abilities were. He had thought maybe the other was a transmuter like Killua and Hisoka- whimsical liars, but now he was absolutely sure the other was a specialist… Which made it harder than ever to pin down the other's strength since specialists come as a varied bunch.

He turned back to the bar.

"Good thing he was there." the bartender said in relief, glancing at Kuroro. "I've seen that guy around though, he's one cocky son of a bitch."

To say that Kurapika was surprised was an understatement. "Do you speak that way about all passengers?" It was also interesting to hear a negative opinion of the ship golden boy.

"Not to other passengers no." The bartender laughed. "But you're an okay guy. I can also tell you don't like him much either."

"What makes you say that?"

"What? Why I don't like him? Or how I can tell you don't like him?" the bartender winked at him and suddenly Kurapika knew where this was going. He gave the bartender two once-overs: ones with _Gyou_ and once without. 1. Non-nen user. 2. Moderately attractive.

"Sorry, I'm not interested." Kurapika sighed.

"Aww I knew you were out of my league anyway." The bartender smiled. "But yeah I see how he hits on you with that badass-smooth-act, you know? I know those types. I work here all the time, and I always see you in the afternoon. You never look happy to see him."

"You're mistaken, he was never hitting on me." Kurapika rolled his eyes.

The bartender just struggled and passed him another drink before grinning widely. "Whatever you say, but it sure looks like that from here. Just don't be naive, okay? You're a 10/10 catch."

This bartender was surprisingly forward, Kurapika grumbled to himself. He then noticed the half-empty bottle only half-expertly hidden behind a panel of wood.

"Drinking on the job?"

The bartender looked caught off guard for a moment before laughing sheepishly. "Like I said, its just too tense. I can't wait for this damn ship to land."

"Yeah me too." Kurapika said sincerely.

-x-x-x-

Kurapika managed to locate and identify a few other blonde women over the course of the day. Only four were traveling alone, while twelve others were with family or friends or business partners. The four women traveling along had also come to the conclusion that they may be potential victims, and were often seen together and in very public places. It would be hard to take out one of them if they continued to be that cautious without leaving at least a few eyewitnesses.

No one else knew yet what the killer was after, although there was of course rampant speculation.

The day slowly passed with Kurapika wanting to tear his hair out in frustration. No one seemed to be harboring any noticeable hostility in either nen or body language towards the four women. He could only resolve to keep an eye on their movements in general since he was getting nowhere otherwise. This would be a lot easier if he were operating in normal bodyguard mode, but since he wanted to escape detection himself, he had to settle for just being a lurking bystander.

Around 8:45, he trudged his way back to Kuroro's room. Besides that one time he saw Kuroro in the lounge, he didn't see the man again, which was rather out of the ordinary. He would normally consider this a victory, but now he had a night full of Kuroro to go through. He used the spare key to enter the room.

"I'm back." He called. It was only polite. There was no response though, and Kurapika frowned before he checked the only other room- the bathroom- for Kuroro. No spider in sight.

Perplexed, but unconcerned, he turned on the TV for background noise before deciding to take a shower. When he was done and dressed and sitting in bed, he realized it was 9:10 and the other man was still not back. A worried feeling finally settled over him. 9 PM was the curfew.

He distracted himself with going over suspects and potential victims again in his head, but when 9:30 rolled around, he finally got out of bed and started pacing.

What if Omokage got his hands on Kuroro? Suddenly, he didn't know what to think about that. Would that be a bad thing? A good thing? A bad thing. Kurapika decided. He paused. Should he risk leaving the room to look for the other? Leaving after curfew was sure to put him under suspicion...

Gah! Finally he found himself standing in front of the door, still undecided. He reached hesitantly for the handle.

The door swung open. In walked Kuroro, cool as a cucumber, looking like nothing was out of place.

"Where were you?!" Exclaimed Kurapika. "You're at least thirty minutes late!" He wheeled quickly away from the door and plopped himself back down on the bed.

Kuroro closed the door and removed his shoes before he took a seat by the lamp looking amused. "Worried much, Mother?"

"As if!" Kurapika quickly sniped. "Irritated. I was thinking Omokage found you or something."

"So you _were_ worried." Kuroro teased. "There's no need to be. I can take care of myself even nenless."

"I'm not!" Kurapika said in exasperation, finally getting ready to drop the subject and pinching the bridge of his nose. "I just wanted to know. You don't have to tell me." He stiffly propped himself on top of the blankets and pillows and pointedly tried to look engrossed with watching TV.

"I will tell you when you need to know." Kuroro simply said.

"…which means never."

"Maybe. Would you have preferred I lie to you? That was the alternative."

"I swear spider, lie to me about anything and I will hurt you."

"Lying may be a tool in my trade, but Kurapika, when have I _ever_ lied to you?" The mocking truth of that statement was not lost on Kurapika.

"Maybe not, but you _do _make mistakes in judgment. It would be better if you simply told me the truth."

"Judgment? What do you know about my judgment calls?" Kuroro didn't look offended at all, which was kind of what Kurapika was going for in retaliation for being left in the dark. He just looked curious, and he had that perpetual hint of a half-smile on his face.

"You thought you told me the truth when you said you had no value as a hostage. You were _wrong_ though." He said that a bit savagely and he hated to admit a little maliciously. Satisfied with the last word, he flipped in the other direction and was about to dig under the covers when he felt the air leave his lungs and his back slam with a muffled _whump_ on the bed.

He found himself staring at the ceiling before a heavy weight was on him and a pair of dark, dark eyes surrounded by agitated black bangs entered his field of vision.

Kurapika was completely taken aback at how successfully he had managed to push the other's buttons and immediately panicked, fearing the worst. He was in a bad position! He had no leverage against the spider's body weight. Both hands were neutralized and the tightening hand around his neck threw his thoughts into further disarray. He had been caught completely unprepared!

His chains wavered in and out of the air like crazy, but he was unable to direct them without the movement of his arms. He could only stare up at the Spider with wide eyes.

Those black eyes bored into his and Kurapika had no choice to stare back, for the other wasn't saying a word. In a rare glimpse, he saw several emotions flash across the other's face. Most prominently, it was _pain pain pain,_ and Kurapika felt irrationally guilty. Fury was there as well, but it burnt out the quickest. Lastly, realization and regret.

Kuroro suddenly slackened his hold on the Kurta and lifted himself away quickly. Kurapika rolled defensively to one side and took in huge heaving breaths, his hands rushing up to touch his tender throat.

"I'm sorry." The spider said. He apologized! Kurapika was shocked but he also wanted to glare daggers at him. He focused first on massaging his bruised throat. "I lost control. It won't happen again."

"What the _hell!_" Kurapika rasped. His heart was still beating like a caged rabbit; he had nearly been convinced he was about to die. He turned his burning red gaze on the spider.

The other had sat down at his usual armchair, and was leaning forward slightly, one hand on his knee and pinching the bridge of his nose, eyes closed.

Kurapika didn't know what he wanted to do. He wanted to do everything and nothing at the same time. He wanted to attack back with a snarl. He wanted to just snuggle in bed and forget the frightening encounter- no sense beating up a now easily defeatable man. He wanted to just sit in shock with the knowledge that he had somehow managed to make the other lose his infamous cool.

"You're right. I was completely wrong about that." The quiet voice cut through Kurapika's turbulent thoughts and he couldn't help but listen. "I was fully prepared to die that day. Welcomed it even. They were supposed to come and destroy us both if they had to." He sighed deeply and Kurapika found himself fascinated by the human action. "And now, I am alive, powerless, and another member took my place in death."

At the mention of Pakunoda, Kurapika felt all of his anger drain away until he felt empty. He remembered the _pain pain pain_ in the other man's eyes. First in the bar, and now right here.

He found himself saying softly. "Now you know how I feel." It wasn't spiteful. It was just a fact.

"Yes. I suppose I do." The spider agreed. "I feel it so much I feel I _know _you."

-x-x-x-

He was dreaming. He knew he was dreaming. He knew he was dreaming because his dreams recently _always _took this route. As is true for most dreamers, he was helpless to live through it.

_Sitting in front of the fire, Kurapika only felt dejected. He was a conjurer. He wasn't an enhancer like he had hoped. His chances were swirling down the drain before his very eyes. _

_He felt a hand clap him on the shoulder, and he looked up into the friendly and rugged face of his sensei. He pulled away, not wanting whatever shallow comfort the other wanted to provide. He could tell the smile was gone from his sensei's face. The older man leaned closer to Kurapika._

"_Listen to me, Kurapika." he began in a low, slow voice. "You're not strong enough. It doesn't matter if you were indeed an enhancer. You will find yourself with nothing but blood and emptiness." _

"_You. don't. know. anything. about. me." Kurapika hissed while shaking violently. The calm and sad expression on his sensei was only pissing him off more. _

"_You're not strong enough, Kurapika. Listen to me." His warm and calloused hands gripped his, as if he was trying to press the knowledge into Kurapika's hands. "That's not the person you are. Let it go." _

"_Let it go." _

"_Let it go." _

"_Let it go." _

_The voice echoed and echoed in his head, and he was forced to listen to it again and again. _

He woke up with a start, looking around wildly. He hated that dream. He hated it because he knew it was _the right thing, the thing he had decided on doing,_ but it was hard for his mind to let it go completely, especially after the altercation last night. A glance at the clock on the nightstand told him it was 5:05 in the morning. Oh good, he might be able to get some real sleep in…

He jolted upright even more when he suddenly realized what, or rather, _who_ was in the room with him.

Kuroro was up early like the damn early riser he was. His was frozen in the motion of rubbing a towel over his wet locks of hair, opting instead to watch Kurapika's sudden jerk into wakefulness with a look of curiosity.

Kurapika's eyes were drawn to Kuroro like a magnet. The other was shirtless and Kurapika traced the line of muscles of his pectorals to his abs and _eep_ thank the gods he was wearing another towel!

"Are you alright?" Kuroro suddenly asked, breaking through Kurapika's concentration. He threw himself back on the bed as quickly as he could and drew the blankets around him tight. _Oh god. _His response to the other man's physique was purely hormonal and normal he told himself. Logic didn't trump though, and he felt his blood _still _singing through his veins.

"Fine." He said curtly.

"Bad dream?"

"No."

A pause.

"I'll be downstairs."

The sound of clothing. (Kurapika grit his teeth) Then the sound of keys, and finally, the closing of the door. Kurapika finally relaxed. For how they were behaving the day after their exchange last night, it may have been a little tense, but it seemed roughly the same as before. For that, Kurapika was actually very glad. He burrowed under the covers and breathed in its soothing scent.

-x-x-x-

Kuroro stared at his book without reading a single word. All he could think of was Kurapika.

Kuroro wasn't sure what had come over him. His feelings and impressions of the blonde were all jumbled and he felt unfamiliarly frustrated. He had stayed out past curfew the other night to prepare for some contingencies, and when he came back, was pleasantly surprised to see the blonde about to go looking for him out of worry. It was the infamous hero-complex at work, of course. He was going to tell the other what he was up to eventually, but he wanted to tease him for a moment…

Then he went from fairly positive neutral mode to positive hate mode when the blonde had the _gall_ to bring up what happened between them in Yorknew. No one knew better than he that he had miscalculated. He has miscalculated the strength of the chain-assassin and the depth of devotion of his own friends. It hurt whenever _he_ thought about it, so when _Kurapika_ brought it into conversation like the stinging head of a weapon, he had felt his control just _snap._

Paku was dead, _he knew that_, and it better be clear that it was a sensitive topic. While the spiders were sometimes impersonal and replaced members based almost purely on strength, they were still tied together in some of the most powerful bonds of camaraderie.

Then… he sighed to himself.

Then… he found himself pinning the lithe blonde to his own bed and the flood of feelings he had gotten from touching the other's skin drove him crazy. The other's eyes had turned red immediately, likely without the other even noticing. Kuroro had nearly gotten lost in those depths as they swirled and pulsed and he felt the stirrings of desire swim in his gut. They were such _passionate_ eyes.

It would have been so, so easy. So easy to reach down, nuzzle the sensitive's blonde's neck, punish him with a love bite, then forgive him with a pass of his tongue. It would have been so easy to keep the blonde in place as his hands slipped under his clothing. The sheer ease of the possibility blew his mind… such was the power of catching an opponent off guard and knowing _exactly_ how to incapacitate them.

Then he came to himself. He realized he was practically choking the other and the other's red eyes were no longer narrowed but wide, panicked, and _scared…_ if only for a split second before they narrowed again in defiance. That vulnerable look was enough to shake him out of his stupor and remove himself from the blonde before he did something he would regret.

It was strange though, he had done what he fantasized about with the blonde before to other people. Plenty other people. _They _had all liked it before blonde was different though, he couldn't manipulate him like that, and he was quick to back off and apologize, truly a bit ashamed of his lapse of control.

"_Now you know how I feel." _Kurapika had said to him. _Yes. I do understand._ Kuroro thought again. _And I can't even blame you for seeking revenge. _That was the beauty of this temporary truce that they had. The cycle was frozen in place. That would change when he got his nen back…

He put down his book and stared at his hands instead. But he had control of his own nen, he could control what happened afterwards. The ball was in his court. And he… he remembered the moment Kurapika had bolted awake after what was clearly a bad dream. He watched those eyes traced his body and a flicker of hot scarlet had appeared in his eyes. It was sexy as fuck.

He rubbed his temples. Another change of plans. He needed to make damn well sure that after he got his nen back his spiders didn't finish off Kurapika themselves. The cycle needed to remain broken.

-x-x-x-

**And here we are with the latest chapter! I'm quite happy with it, so I'd be delighted if you left me a comment or feedback. It was pretty introspective with not a lot of action, but I realize that's also the bulk of my writing style. **


	7. The Theft

**THANK you for the reviews for the last chapter. :3 I love reviews and they made me feel oh so special. I've responded to everyone… I think! Here's the next chapter without further ado.**

-x-x-x-

"Kurapika dear? Are you sure you're feeling alright?" Nancy's voice was worried, and Kurapika barely managed to come to himself long enough to focus on her face.

"Yes, I'm fine." He assured her as nonchalantly as he could.

"Well, it's your turn." Nancy said doubtfully as she gestured towards the board between them.

Kurapika cursed to himself and quickly moved forward one of his checkers pieces. "Sorry. I guess I am a little distracted."

"What's on your mind? You've been zoning out all day." Nancy complained gently. It was the afternoon, and they were back in the lounge. The slow air trip over the continent was not yet half over, and passengers were all eagerly awaiting for the first scheduled stop. It had been decided that a landing as soon as possible was the safest course of action. Better to let the killer go than see more innocent people harmed, was the popular reasoning.

_What's on my mind? _Kurapika had been hopelessly sucked into a mental whirlpool, endlessly replaying the events of the previous night. He couldn't get the other's heart-broken eyes when Pakunoda came up out of his head. He also couldn't get the words _I feel it so much I feel I know you_ out of his head either. They were strangely intimate words that made Kurapika feel like they had stepped into a weird new territory: some ground of understanding. Don't get him started on the shirtless Kuroro debacle either…

"Just worried about what's going to happen next." Kurapika told her instead. He fiddled with the chains on his hand before sighing heavily. He was also no closer to finding out the puppet… absolutely no one stuck out to him as a candidate. They were going to make the first out of five scheduled landings in a day and a half. The rest of the trip's schedule however had been scrapped due to the assaults, and a formal investigation from the officials on the ground was supposed to occur. He would have to get off and find a new airship to take him to Lukso Province.

"Nothing has happened the last few days." Yue mentioned. She batted Nancy's hands away as she tried to move a piece on the board and moved a piece herself. "Maybe there will be no more issues. The ship's bound to land soon anyway."

"Which reminds me!" Nancy turned to Kurapika. "Would you like to continue traveling together? We can find an airship together that can continue taking us East."

"I would love to." Kurapika responded with a smile. Warmth diffused through him as Nancy's lined face beamed at him. He really was becoming very fond of these two good-natured women. He really hadn't had the opportunity to make casual acquaintances since he began his quest for revenge outside of Gon, Killua, and Leorio, and it felt good and right.

Kurapika tensed a little when Kuroro took his seat with them an hour later, but soon relaxed. As much as the previous events had affected him, it actually took away a little of the subconscious fear he had for the spider. He was more aware than ever of the other's physical abilities even while nen-less, but as for the other's emotional self, it was hard to be afraid of someone who was appearing less and less like a monster and more and more like a real breathing human. Albeit still a _horrible _one, he reminded himself quickly.

"Kuroro." He greeted to be polite. The other merely turned to him and smiled. It didn't seem to have any slight mocking edge or any other malicious tinge, so Kurapika tentatively and a little reluctantly smiled back.

Kuroro paused just the slightest bit as Kurapika offered him a small, shy smile. God, it made him feel like an awful fiend for having thoughts about the blonde that he did. It also told him the blonde didn't hold against him what had happened the previous day and he felt relieved.

He was worried though. For his own sleuthing had come up empty as well. While he didn't plan to engage Omokage's puppet in any sort of combat, he still kept himself highly aware of his surroundings. In the air, he could feel the presence of Omokage… yet he was unable to pinpoint it at all. It frustrated him, and he wished he had his nen to heighten his senses. As it was, danger seemed to drift all around him, just slightly out of reach of comprehension.

Turning to Nancy, he asked, "Have there been any updates in regards to the killer?" There wasn't, he would have been one of the first to know if there had been, but it was an expected conversation topic.

"No." Nancy sighed. She handed him a sheet of paper. "We also eliminated everyone again. Yue has a good instinct and she says that none of these people is the killer."

Yue nodded seriously. "I don't want to put too much stock in my instincts, but I'm stumped. I might have been a secretary back in my day, but I was a secretary for the police force. None of these people strike me as criminals."

Kuroro hummed noncommittally, she was an amateur after all, and any conclusion of hers was going to be taken with a grain of salt.

"Nevertheless, it has to be _someone_ on this ship." Kuroro reminded them. "Just be careful, there is only a day until the first stop. Whoever it is might be forced to act again in that time.

Yue and Nancy looked uneasy while Kurapika looked a mixture of sick and determined.

-x-x-x-

It happened during dinner. Kuroro didn't see it coming.

It started off as all dinners did. Around 6 PM, he joined Kurapika and the two elderly women at their table in the dinner hall. It was a full hall for once, for it was the last dinner and the cooks had outdone themselves in the effort to make it memorable and delicious. Everyone had been given a classy glass of wine in preparation for a final toast. Children even were given a smaller, cute glass of grape juice to join in on the fun.

The captain was on the small raised platform in the front of the room to say his final words to the passengers.

"Good evening everyone." he began with a tired smile. Kuroro had the distinct impression that the man was nervous "I thank you very much for being great passengers during this trip. I know that terrible things have happened on this trip that we have been unable to prevent." He paused and dabbed at his eyes. The man was crying. There was a murmur of sympathy that rippled through his audience. "Forgive me." He said, straightening.

"I just want to say, thank you for bearing with us despite the circumstances. We will land tomorrow and solve this crime with all due haste. I want to have a moment of silence for Sora Kumori, the young woman who was killed. We won't forget her."

Kuroro was almost sure that someone in the hall was belligerent enough to rise up and start a fight with the captain. It was human nature to lash out against authority when bad things happen, and he was surprised that no one threw a fork at the man or screamed for his blood for the incompetency. Everyone was somber and bowed their heads to remember the woman that had been with them for so brief a time.

In the corner of his eye, Kuroro could see Nancy's lips moving fervently in silent prayer. Kurapika too had his eyes closed and head bowed, looking extremely defeated and rather haggard. He grimaced, but forced himself to tilt his own head down in respect. He didn't know the girl, so it didn't tug at his heartstrings in the least, but he understood his behavior would be important to both Nancy and Kurapika. He had never bowed for anything before in his life before though, and the feeling of purposely exposing his neck made him feel deeply uncomfortable. Luckily, it only lasted a moment.

The captain raised his own glass in the air. "For the important things in life." he said lamely, and drained his glass.

All around him, people were draining their glasses and that's when the feeling of wrongness hit him so hard he nearly lost his grip on the stem of his glass. He stared hard into the liquid, mind racing… what… what… is this feeling..?

"Allow me now to introduce the pilot that has been working hard these past weeks to bring you to your destination."

That's when the realization slammed into Kuroro like a sledgehammer. His eyes widened. He whirled. He made the barest eye contact with Kurapika before it happened.

The sounds of glass shattering exploded in his ears all around him. The ground beneath him shuddered and suddenly tilted so angularly there was no hope to stay on his feet. There was a resounding crash as the entire room was sent crashing into the left side of the room. Tables, chairs, and people were in a bruised tangle before the ship rightened itself and everything slid across the floor again, rebalanced.

Kuroro inexplicably found himself cradling both Nancy and Yue as they were slammed to and fro. With his legs, he was able to prevent the furniture from crushing them.

"Why hello everyone!~" A jovial, unfamiliar voice sounded over the intercom.

_It was the pilot. Goddamn it, it was the damn pilot!_

Kuroro cursed to himself. They had been operating under the impression that the puppet was a passenger that had gotten passage the same way as them. For Omokage to kill the pilot and then create his form and abilities as a puppet was no difficult task and bloody brilliant. The pilot was the one man that was constantly out of sight and that no one would suspect. He felt a reluctant respect for his ex-spider.

"I hope everyone liked the vintage wine I prepared. It was made _especially_ for this wonderful crowd!"

There were groans of pain all around him. No one seemed to be moving though, and that was when Kuroro realized with a lurch that _of course_, the wine was spiked with either a crippling agent or straight up poison. Kuroro spied Kurapika stretched out several meters to his left. He was struggling to stand, but seemed unable to. His mind seemed all there, however, and didn't seem to be in actual pain. _Paralyzing agent then. _That explained how no one was tipped off at the first sip- they were notoriously tasteless. It was a favored weapon for rapists.

"_Now." _The voice on the intercom turned dark. "We're going to take a little detour. Just a little one. I have something that I need to find, and until I do, no one is going anywhere." The intercom turned off, and Kuroro could feel the ship descend in altitude and completely change direction.

"K-Kur-" Nancy was trying to speak to him, but Kuroro was alarmed to hear that her voice was breathless and faint. Could the paralyzing agent be affecting her lungs?

"Shh." He shushed her quickly. His mind whirled with the possibilities. Could he take out the puppet himself? No. He thought decisively. If his hunch was right, there was definitely a second puppet. The first pilot puppet likely didn't have nen abilities since nen-users typically didn't find jobs as pilots. That meant there was at least one other meant as back up. Someone strong. _Must have been hiding in the cockpit as well._ Pretending to be a co-pilot perhaps?

He forced himself to slowly relax his muscles and drop both Nancy and Yue gently to the floor. He had to play dead so to speak. Play dead and wait for his chance.

It was almost silent in the dinner hall. Everyone it seems was either affected by the drug and couldn't speak or was lying low like Kuroro, which he doubted. He made sure to check Kurapika again and again. He knew the other had only ingested perhaps half of the glass; perhaps he would not be nearly as affected.

Kurapika, however, seemed to be having difficulty beyond twitching his arms occasionally, and Kuroro could only watch from afar as his famous chains wavered and finally completely disappeared from his hand.

The ship was dropping with alarming speed, however, and he had to grit his teeth as they were thrown around like apples in a sack. A solid block of wood from a table barely missed Kurapika's head by a hair and he completely lost his hold on Nancy.

If Omokage planned to fully disorient the passengers before they landed, he was doing a fine job of it.

He checked himself. He was, as usual, fully outfitted with an assortment of weapons. He had boots that flipped out knives from the toes when he kicked. The poisoned Benz blade he used to fight Zeno and Silva- only some of the poison remained though. He undid his earrings and slipped them into his pocket instead. Two bombs. One a simple smoke bomb and the other a small grenade. They used to only react with a specific burst of nen, but he had since changed them to respond manually.

Without the reinforcement from his nen, only the Benz knife by itself had a chance of cutting through nen-protected skin. It was likely the grenade and boot knives would merely bounce off a well-prepared opponent. The smoke bomb had potential if his opponent was unskilled in _En, _a highly technical and draining form of _Ten _and _Ren _that allows them to sense anything in their personal radius.

_Too many factors. He didn't know the enemy._ He _might_ be able to win a fight against a practiced nen-user if he was tricky, but the chances were closer to 30%. He glanced at Kurapika. He wouldn't risk it if he didn't have to.

There was an enormous screeching noise as the airship abruptly made contact with land. Kuroro glanced out the window, but he could only see pitch black. They definitely had not landed near civilization. If he had to guess, they had landed in the desert they had been flying over the last few days. Chances for external help were minimal.

He absorbed the shockwave well, but others were not so lucky. Heads were slammed against hard surfaces, and blood broke free and flowed.

After the ship landed, he did not have to wait long. The first hint that told him that this situation was taking another turn for the worse was when a churning metallic sound told him the walkway was being lowered. Someone was entering the aircraft, and Kuroro knew who it was before the presence filled the air.

_Omokage._

-x-x-x-

Kurapika forced himself to take short shallow breaths. His entire body had been forced to relax due to the agent in the wine and it affected his breathing as well, for his lung muscles were similarly relaxed. He felt like he couldn't get enough oxygen, wasn't breathing fast enough, and that caused his heart to speed up in panic and waste more precious air. Spots danced across his vision due to this, and he cursed. His mind was blessedly clear of any effects and he seized upon that one saving grace.

It wasn't much of a saving grace at all. It just told him in painful terms how bad the situation was. He couldn't use his nen like this and Omokage's puppet had gotten the drop on him. They were free to pillage the rooms as they see fit and there was no way they would not stumble upon his 6 pairs of scarlet eyes. His heart trembled at the thought of loosing his clansmen again and a fresh wave of spots nearly obscured his vision. He had to do something!

A fork lay near his right hand and with all the strength he could muster, he swung out his hand and weakly grasped the cold metal.

As much as he hated to admit it, he was currently out of his depth. He wanted to look around to see how the spider head was faring in a situation like this, but he was unable to fight the paralysis enough to flip his head to look the other direction. The spider head had figured out just a few seconds before he himself did what was going in… in those seconds, it was enough for Kuroro to remain unaffected by poison and Kurapika to be reduced to _this. Damn it! _

There was no way he could rely on the spider head though. The other had made it clear he was unwilling to fight the ex-spider while he was nen-less.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when three heavy sets of boots walk into the lit dinner hall. He didn't need to see the long, beautiful silver hair and blue-green eyes of the lead man to know that it was Omokage himself.

"Well _well _done!" The man said delighted. He stepped nimbly into the dinner hall, dancing around the fallen bodies and broken tables. "I must admit, Akira, you followed my orders excellently. The man besides him was wearing a pilot's uniform. There was a sad downturn of his eyes, and Kurapika realized as much as the puppet was bound to obey Omokage, he retained his memories and feelings and was likely feeling devastated. The other man was standing just outside the threshold, wrapped in shadows. Kurapika couldn't make out his features.

Omokage was scanning over the fallen with a thoughtful expression. "Ne, what do _you_ think?" He addressed the figure outside. "Anyone here make good puppet material?"

There was nothing but a stiff silence, but Omokage was amused nonetheless. "Oh you." he laughed. "I got your personality spot on, I must say. You'll thaw before long, my dear. After all, I will find you the _perfect_ pair of eyes."

Omokage had dropped to a crouch and was examining a few people, and Kurapika felt doom. His hand tightened on the fork. That was a mistake. Omokage's head turned with deadly accuracy to his location and a cold shudder swept through him when Omokage's face split into a vicious smile.

"What do we have _here." _The low, dangerous purr of his voice made Kurapika tense, but he was helpless to do anything about it. In seconds, the man had crossed over to him. Kurapika could only glare as fiercely as he could as the ex-spider loomed over him in a crouch. His silvery hair pooled on the floor and he reached out cool fingers to touch Kurapika's cheek.

"Look what I unexpectedly caught in my web." he murmured. "You know." He dropped his voice so only Kurapika could hear. "I came here to find some dead Kurta's Scarlet Eyes… and what do I find but the _real _ones? This is better in every way."

His fingers reverentially caressed his cheek. "You may have thought that you won last time." he said almost fondly. "But little do you know that it was _I_ that walked away with the jackpot."

He rose to his feet. "I'll introduce you. Kurapika dear, come here! And _that's_ an order." Slowly from the shadows, the third man walked into the hall.

Kurapika felt horror rise in his gut as he was faced with himself. Down to the last detail, the puppet looked 100% like Kurapika. The only difference was the eyes. They were two gaping black abysses. An unfinished soul doll.

"Do you know," Omokage started again conversationally. "What I thought when I heard about you? You had a power that could bring spiders to their knees- a near invincible power against those who are a part of the Genei Ryodan. And I thought… I _must_ make a puppet out of you. You are to be my ace in the hole, my trump card." Omokage walked in a circle around Kurapika, tutting.

"I had made many enemies in my time, but none so formidable as the Ryodan. I made puppets of them all, but they were out for my blood. I needed the ultimate defense. That was when you so marvelously walked into the picture. I sacrificed all my dolls so I could get _you. _With _you, _I can obtain all the Ryodan as dolls again with ease."

"But do you know what the problem was?" Kurapika couldn't answer, and it was clear that Omokage had been keeping all his secret plots to himself and was finally relishing the opportunity to force someone to appreciate his genius.

"My puppet was still somehow… incomplete. I couldn't fathom it!" He waved towards the Kurapika-puppet again. "He was prefect in every way! I made sure of that. It only took some conversation to soon figure out the problem. Dolls have all your memories you know. He needed _eyes._ And not just any eyes. He needed the _Scarlet Eyes._ That's your secret, isn't it, Kurapika-kun? You become a specialist only when your eyes are activated."

Kurapika gathered himself. The next time the bastard came close he was getting an eyeful of fork… Blinding white-hot pain suddenly went through him as Omokage slammed his heel into his hand.

He screamed and felt the bones in his hand grind against one another. It spasmed and released the fork, which was subsequently kicked away by Omokage.

"You're still decades away from fighting with _me."_ Omokage told him mock ruefully. "Last time, you had help from how many friends? Four other friends. This time-" he looked around. "_This time you have no one." _

_I have Kuroro. _Kurapika thought desperately, but he regretted the thought as soon as it formed. No, he didn't. And even if Kuroro did step in, he was horribly unprepared to take on both Omokage and the Kurapika-puppet that was sure to easily capture him in chain jail.

"Enough of me talking now." A hand gripped his face and he was hauled to his feet and slammed against a pillar.

"_Show me your eyes."_ Omokage whispered seductively. "Those beautiful red eyes, _show me!"_

Kurapika knew the situation was hopeless, so he did the only thing he could. He refused and said what every martyr said to the face of death.

"Go. Fuck. Yourself." He said clearly and slowly to prevent the poison from making him stutter. He kept his eyes firmly deactivated.

Omokage just squinted at him as if he didn't understand, although the hand clenched around his face dug into his face with greater force. "Oh, it seems you have some contacts in." And with swift, careful movements, they were pinched out and discarded on the floor.

"_Now, _show me your eyes. Before I lose my patience."

"I _said,_" Kurapika stressed. "Go. Fuck. Yourself-" He had barely finished the last word before the hand manhandled him like a rag doll and slammed his head twice into the pillar with brutal force. He saw stars. The world was spinning and sounds were distorted.

"And _I_ said, show me the Scarlet Eyes!" Omokage roared, and Kurapika could just barely feel the hint of red rise up in him in self-defense.

A sob broke through both of their attentions, and Omokage swiveled his head to see Nancy crumpled on the floor, crying. Kurapika had forgotten the audience was only the entire ship.

"S-top. Please stop hurting Kurapika!" She could barely speak, but some reserve of strength seemed to enable her. Tears ran down her lined face. Kurapika felt fear as he realized she slowly captured more and more of the man's attention.

He was dropped unceremoniously to the floor.

"Oh? And what's your name, my lady?" He dropped besides her and smoothed back her hair and wiped her tears away. "You know, Kurapika, this reminds me of how your clan was slaughtered. I should know. I was there." He gripped Nancy by her arm and threw her in front of Kurapika.

Kurapika knew where this was going. He felt his own sob catch in his throat.

"Scarlet Eyes, Kurapika, or I break her bones one by one." He grabbed one of her arms and twisted lightly.

The red rose up in Kurapika so fast he almost didn't realize it. As much as he tried to put a lid on it, it overflowed and zipped through his senses without his consent.

"_Touch her and I'll kill you!"_

"You have it wrong. _After _I take the eyes, it is _I _that will be killing you. Then you'll never be able to tell anyone of my return." He smiled. Take them, Kurapika." He was addressing his puppet now, and his time, he was hauled to his feet by his counterpart and forced to stare into black holes for the second time. He felt the tug of his eyes. The last thing he saw was Kuroro's angry eyes behind the puppet. It was strangely reassuring. Then the pain threw the black blanket of unconsciousness over him.

-x-x-x-

Omokage was going to die. Painfully. Slowly. _Brutally._ That was how Kuroro kept himself focused. He had originally planned to wait out Omokage's presence. At first he had applauded himself for his good sense, since Omokage's second puppet turned out to be none other than of Kurapika himself. He was woefully unprepared to take on someone who had as effective a weapon as chain jail.

The longer he watched, the longer he realized he absolutely could not abide it anymore. It had been his hope that Omokage would go straight for the eyes kept in Kurapika's cabin, but once he had seen the real thing, it was clear he didn't care for the dead ones anymore. Omokage didn't hold anything back as he terrorized the Kurta. He couldn't name his own anger properly, but it made his blood boil to see Kurapika's blood trailing down the side of his neck after he had been pressed into the stone pillar.

He forced himself to blank out his mind and _think of a plan._ It was hard to over the conversation, but with his limited resources and what he knew of his enemy, Kuroro was confident he at the very least had a good shot. _Sun Tzu would be proud._

What he needed was an opening. From his place faking unconsciousness on the ground, he was closest to the Kurapika puppet and furthest from the pilot, with Omokage between them.

At one point Nancy had spoken up, and he had been filled with both unfamiliar admiration and disgust. The idiotic woman had no sense of self-preservation, but he couldn't deny that her desire to save the blonde was something that he wished he could voice himself.

He had watched then, carefully, as the puppet walked up to claim the blonde's eyes. In that moment, its attention would be diverted, and that would be the time to strike…

The first flash of light as the puppet began its supernatural theft and Kuroro was on the move. With lightning fast speed, he reached into his pocket, took out the earring grenade, flipped the inner switch, and sent it hurtling like a bullet to the window left of Omokage. The speed was immense; he knew it was fast enough to completely escape detection via cameras and too fast for most eyes to follow.

Omokage, however, was not most people, and sensed it almost immediately. He couldn't stop its progress though, and even he was caught off guard though when the small projectile gave off a massive explosion and caused the bay window to explode in a million shards.

Kuroro didn't wait for the response. He reached into his pocket and unleashed his second bomb. Smoke filled the hall and under its cover he was able to eat up the distance to the puppet.

Whipping out the Benz knife, he felt it bite home in a burst of bright red blood and the Kurapika-puppet hiss with surprise and pain before leaping clear of smoke and Kuroro. _I hope I made it in time. _He thought anxiously. He needed to know if he managed to interrupt the process, but there was no time for that.

Twitching his left foot, he brought out one of his basic knives and with the ease of a professional, threw it expertly through the air to where he knew the nen-less pilot was. A second later, he heard the sound of steel in flesh and knew he had put that particular puppet to rest.

Wind suddenly blew the smoke away, and Kuroro found himself staring into the scarlet eyes of Omokage's puppet as he whipped his chain in a circle to blow the smoke away like a fan. He had been too late.

"Omokage." He forced himself to smirk lightly to the other.

"Kuroro!" Omokage hissed. "You dare show yourself to me nen-less?" Kuroro had prepared for the other knowing he was nen-less from Kurapika-puppet's memories, but the knowledge was still a massive weakness.

"Do you know what this is?" He ignored the other and held up his Benz knife conversationally. The puppet's blood dripped from it with an acidic hiss, and Kuroro felt dark satisfaction when Omokage's eyes whipped from knife to puppet.

"That's right. It's a poisoned Benz knife. A single millimeter of its poison is enough to paralyze a whale. I'd say your puppet got quite a bit more than that. Enough to paralyze the heart in mere minutes." He was only half bluffing, but he also trusted in Omokage's fear of him to do its work. The poison had not been refilled since his fight with Silva. Chances are, the puppet would be paralyzed, but be in no fear of dying at all.

Omokage was silent.

"If you want to save your puppet, you had better get going." Kuroro was outwardly calm, but he could feel the slightest sheen of sweat pebble on his forehead. This was a game of poker with extremely high stakes. If he doesn't have his poker face on…

"I could kill you now." Omokage hissed.

"I'd like to see you try that." The confident, cocky look plastered on his face easily fazed Omokage despite the fact that he knew the other was nen-less. "You'd never defeat me without a puppet as a buffer. And… what do you call them? Your _masterpiece_ will die in the meantime.

Omokage growled, then laughed. "I don't know why you're doing this Kuroro, but trust me- I have all the time in the world to kill you." He promised. "I'll take my time to relish it."

And then he had gathered up his now paralyzed puppet and was racing down the plank. Mere seconds later, Kuroro could hear the powerful throttle of what must be a jet rumble away before taking to the skies. He didn't have time to be relieved.

He dropped to the ground and slipped an arm under Kurapika's head to check the damage. His heart dropped when he saw Kurapika's eyeless sockets. Without thinking, he pulled the bandage from around his own forehead and wrapped them around his eyes. He breathed. The other was alive at the very least. His blind condition was also very, _very_ temporary, he promised himself.

It was the best he could do for now. In the meantime, he needed to learn how to fly an airship ASAP.

-x-x-x-

**So that's it. Finally Omokage makes his dastardly appearance and does his villainous monologue. :P Kind of actiony which is new to me since I do tend to go more introspective thoughtsy writing. Hope it went alright! No major romancy developments, but soon we get to have Kuroro being a sweetheart (hopefully) to blind and defensive Kurapika. Oh, also hopefully the pilot twist went alright, I tried to insert "passenger" vs "people on the airship" as a super vague hint.**


	8. The Awakening

**WOW, thank you for all the reviews on the previous chapter! I've been unable to respond to you guys personally since I wasn't able to go on the internet very often (I type up my chapters without internet access) so I just want to say a thank you now and I'll likely get to it soon. You guys are my muse, I think over every word you guys say. Here's the next chapter, Kurapika's in for an awakening. ;)**

-x-x-x-

_He was walking alone. He didn't know where he was yet, but the scenery was slowly becoming more and more familiar. The dirt path he walked on was once well-worn, but now baby grass, roots, and rocks covered it. _

_He passed a clearing, and with a jolt, he recognized the tree that he and Pairo used to climb. It was deserted- it looked like no one had been there since his younger self had run amok. His feet carried him away helplessly and Kurapika felt the impending knowledge tear at his heart. _

_He rounded the bend, and suddenly he was face to face with the devil himself. It was the spider head, of course he would haunt his dreams. _

_Usually the spider head appeared aloof with the smallest of superior smiles... He would be larger than life and have hands that dripped with blood. In this dream, he was correctly sized, and appeared innocuous in his white dress shirt. He didn't seem to be speaking, but was clearly and urgently trying to tell Kurapika something with just gestures. _

_Turn back. _

_Well, if Kurapika could, he would. He was too close to his village now, so he forcefully barreled through the man and continued on his way._

_His town of corpses. Kurapika knew knew knew he had buried the bodies of his clansmen, but in his dream, their bodies remained fresh on the ground. Everywhere he looked, he saw the gaping wounds were their eyes used to be. They flooded his vision like evil-eyed wraiths and the sheer red overcame his vision. They were suffocating him, his clansmen were suffocating him. _

_They scrabbled and scrabbled at his eyes, hissing all the while. The sheer weight of all that remained unspoken made Kurapika want to scream. The hands never stopped though and pain pain pain was blooming behind both eyes- _

Kurapika awoke with a start in delirium to stabbing pains in his eyes. It was dark.

He tried to open his eyes and found he couldn't, they were firmly bound shut. Immediately, his hands circled around his head to grapple where he knew the knot must be. Callused hands stopped the mindless clawing by firmly taking both hands and lowering them.

He hissed with surprise and immediately reached out his nen. Either the other had been so quiet he didn't hear him or he was more weakened than he realized.

It was a mixture of the two he realized when his nen sputtered and died almost immediately, but not before recognizing the presence.

Kuroro.

Shame, anger, and fear tore through him and he ripped his hands away. He forced his voice to steady.

"Where am I." Here he was, incapacitated before this man. He almost couldn't stand it! He crossed his arms and trembled slightly from the weakness in his limbs.

"A hospital room in Orkada City." Kurapika could hear the barest sighs and a creak that indicated the man had withdrawn and was reclining in a chair.

"How-" His voice cracked slightly but he cleared it and continued. "How long was I out? Where is Omokage? Where are Nancy and Yue?"

Kuroro stared impassively down at his charge and wondered if it was common protocol to agitate patients. The blonde was a wisp among the blankets, but his bandage covered head was tilted in his direction expectantly. He could see the adamant furrow of his brow. He considered. Normal patients were probably shielded from answers, but this was Kurapika.

"20 hours." He answered. "We've landed since. It's about 12 AM right now. Omokage retreated. Nancy and Yue are in a hotel nearby. They'll visit tomorrow."

After he had managed to get the airship back in the air and on track, a feat that took him a solid hour and a half, he had come back to see that everyone was slowly stirring back into full mobility- which was a good thing, as the bay window was broken and the wind whistling through the ship dangerously seemed to grab at clothes and drag them to the edge. It was extremely turbulent as well, but hardly anyone said a word as they gathered themselves, their loved ones, and their belongings and hurried to the safety of their cabins.

He had helped Nancy and Yue to their own room and left Kurapika in their care. Everyone was giving him a wide berth after seeing his abilities and he didn't mind the slightest. Nancy and Yue were a little hesitant as well, but after Nancy threw her arms around him and sobbed, he realized they didn't think of him too differently.

He focused again on the blonde in front of him. He had gotten a good sense of Kurapika's personality, and it didn't surprise him in the slightest to see Kurapika behave in this manner. His body language was extremely defensive and he was bristling and on edge the way a cornered or injured cat would be. He would be desperately trying to piece together his dignity in front of his once mortal foe and would highly resent the spider for seeing him in this weakened state.

He almost sighed again. He had taken a few steps closer to the blonde, but this would force him several steps back.

"Would you like some water?"

There was no response from Kurapika, so he got up and filled a cup anyway.

"Why… why didn't he kill me? He said he would."

Kuroro touched his shoulder in warning before lifting the cup to the Kurta's lips. As expected, Kurapika turned his head away sharply before grabbing the cup himself. His hand was unsteady, and so he clasped both hands around it to take a much-needed sip.

"I fought him off in time." Kuroro answered simply. "I was unable to prevent him from taking your eyes in time, however. It was unfortunately the opening I needed." _To make sure I wouldn't be captured in chain jail. _There was no sense in reminding the blonde that his likeness had been made into a puppet.

"_Why."_ The blonde demanded of him, his frame shaking more. "Why did you-" He had difficulty finishing the question.

"Why did I save your life?" Kuroro asked. He saw the angry, shamed red rise on the other's fair skin and debated again how to answer. Kurapika definitely didn't need to hear the truth right now, so he settled for the other answer that he had purposefully not voiced earlier.

"Kurta. If you die, your nen will kill me." It was true, which is what made the answer so powerful. But it was also the truth that Kuroro didn't think about that for a minute before he had intervened to save Kurapika's life. All he could think about was the strange understanding they had come to in the past few days and the intense desire to see the other healthy and alive. It was actually as simple as that.

Kurapika was silent as he pieced together what the spider head told him. When he woke up, he was filled with some sort of dread that he would have to thank the spider for saving his life. The reasoning though that Kuroro told him relieved him of that duty entirely. He breathed deeply, and experimentally wiggled his fingers and toes.

He didn't know why, but he was always extremely affected by the loss of his eyes. The last time this had happened, he was bedridden and unable to move for a long time while Leorio had been forced to tend to him. Gon, on the other hand, when he had his eyes stolen was up and in fighting condition in less than thirty minutes from what he heard from Killua. He suspected it was because his eyes were deeply and intricately tied to his nen core, and the loss of his eyes disturbed and depleted his energy and powers. He needed to heal. Quickly. He would maybe ask Gon, Killua, and Leorio to help him regain his eyes after he put his clan's eyes to rest- His clansmen's eyes!

He jerked up straight and immediately regretted it as crippling waves of pain made his body and head throb.

"Lay back down." Kuroro told him emotionlessly, and pushed softly on his shoulders.

Kurapika slapped them away growling. "Leave me. Where the hell are my belongings?" Gritting his teeth in preparation for pain, he slung his lower body over the edge of the bed. "They're on the ship still, aren't they-"

"Calm yourself. I have your Scarlet Eyes here." Kuroro dragged Kurapika easily back into position and plopped into his lap his luggage.

Immediately, Kurapika pressed him palms against the side and sent a surge of nen to confirm that yes, he could feel the presence of six pairs of eyes. He relaxed. This was all that mattered.

"You broke into my cabin?" He asked tiredly. He could feel the slightest shift of air as the spider shrugged.

"I used your key."

"Of course you did." Kurapika was in no mood to tolerate the spider anymore. "Leave. I don't need _any_ of your assistance anymore."

He could _feel_ the pause in the air and Kurapika _knew_ the other's mind was whirling for some diplomatic way to remain here and assure himself his Kurapika's life was out of danger so _his _was. He felt anger surge through him.

"Look." He said fiercely. "I've been tricked, paralyzed by what is likely to be a concentrated dose of _a date rape drug,_ had my eyes stolen by _your_ fucking ex-spider, and now I'm hospitalized. _Get out! _You are absolutely the last person I want to see. Don't you have some _nen_ you need to remove?" The last was a taunt.

Kuroro though, was only mildly irritated by his tirade. "There is no need to be aggrieved by _me._ I only saved your life, and I'm the _only_ person right now who you can count on to do so while Omokage is a threat."

"We're no longer on an airship and we no longer have to entertain each other's presence." Kurapika growled. "I'm able to fight even without my eyes. _I_ still have access to nen, unlike you."

"You cannot possibly be _blind_ to the fact that you are in no fit state to fend off anyone." Bastard, he purposely used the word blind!

The gall! Kurapika knew very well of his current weakness, thank you very much, but that didn't change the fact that he wanted to be alone.

"Out." He said flatly. "I don't care where you go, just get out of this room."

Kuroro was silent for a moment, and was maybe considering pressing his luck. Soon though, he released a resigned, annoyed sigh and got to his feet.

"Very well. Nancy and Yue will visit you in the morning." He finished cordially before opening the door and stepping out. Kurapika listened hard for footsteps, but the other was so quiet normally that it was impossible to tell if he was still standing there or if had walked off.

No matter. Kurapika finally allowed himself to relax against the blankets. The frightening blackness on all sides of him made him feel like he was alone in a deep ocean about to be engulfed by a whale, and he forced himself to focus his nen in a brief bubble around him.

_En _was hard for him on a normal day, and now, injured as he was, it escaped him almost completely. He was only able to get the sense of a vase of flowers to his right- the nen from living things had the most noticeable aura. Man-made things gave off no aura at all, and it took time and effort to distinguish the absence of tiny bits of air aura (pollen, dust mites, bacteria) to figure out where objects themselves were.

The small anchor of flowers was enough to calm him though. It gave him a sense of east and west and up and down. He felt he could breathe easily again.

Any residual tension drained out of him as he listened to the blessed silence. He just needed some… time. Some time to collect himself and find a plan to work around his new handicap.

-x-x-x-

The next morning, Kurapika was awakened by the slight sounds of crying. Slowly coming to, he reached out his nen was relived to find he was able to hold onto it for far longer than the previous day.

"Nancy? Yue?" He called softy. Then he was gathered up in a warm gentle hug and he could feel the tears that slid down Nancy's face.

"Oh you're awake!" Nancy said, sniffling. "I hope we didn't wake you up. You've been through so much…" She released him, and this time he was hugged a little gruffly by Yue.

"I don't know what crazy mess you got yourself into, Kurapika, but it looks like you'll live." Yue sighed.

He smiled at them both. He could also feel Kuroro's presence now watching from a chair across the room. Ignoring him, he focused on reassuring Nancy that he was fine.

"Honestly, I'm going to be fine!" He said. "He got my eyes, but it's not permanent even though it looks that way. I can still get them back. Otherwise, no lasting injuries at all."

"I don't understand your world," Nancy sighed. "So many things confused me. Kuroro explained a little to me, and I saw it with my own two eyes. But yes, the girl that had her eyes stolen got hers back after Kuroro took out the black-haired pilot."

"It's called Nen, use the word!" Yue prodded swallowing a look of wonderment. "I've always known something was deeply off about this world…"

Nancy giggled, but then turned somber. "Oh Kurapika, so you're actually one of the last Kurta? That's why the man wanted your eyes?"

"Yes," he confirmed. By now he trusted the two women enough to not tell the world world his secret. "Sorry for the white lie, though I really am heading to Lukso to visit my village. I plan to go there before I try and get my eyes back."

"Oh honey…" Kurapika could almost feel the welling of tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry. You must have had a hard life."

"Not as hard as it might have been." He found himself saying. "I found a new family really, and it helps. A lot. Some days I even forget it happened." And strangely it was true. Why was it when he was reassuring someone else that he found out these things about himself? His trio of loyal friends made all the difference in the world.

"I just… I just can't believe someone would actually _do_ such a horrible thing!" Nancy said quietly with a shudder. "To kill innocent people like that. It's terrifying to think there are people out there like that. Oh Kurapika!" she said again and dissolved once more into tears for his sake.

Kurapika felt awkward. He was painfully aware of Kuroro's presence in the room and while familiar rage surged through him again, he wondered with a morbid curiosity how the other was reacting to Nancy's words.

Did he ever regret? Feel remorse? Feel something besides _nothing?_ Kurapika hadn't finished asking him from last time, but he clung to that same old hope that it was something, anything more than nothing.

"Don't worry about me." Kurapika told her firmly. He wished she would stop crying. "I haven't a chance to talk to a doctor or nurse yet, how long am I down for?" He changed the subject.

"Doc told us you're down from anywhere between four days and a week from your fever." Yue informed him. "They suggested a week, but they said you seem to healing remarkably well. Four days may be good enough to release you."

"Oh." Kurapika said, slightly disappointed. Four days was pretty much three days too long. He had connections and power though, with his Hunter License, so if he felt fine, he would just force them to let him leave.

That plan was scrapped with as the conversation continued, he realized there were no airships heading East for at least five days anyway due to the investigation of the murder. Kuroro, he had been told, had been gracious enough to go ahead and reserve them all tickets. Apparently good thing he did too since everyone was looking for the same tickets, and they were currently sold out.

Kurapika only felt irritation at the news, but he figured it would be difficult to shake Kuroro off his tail anyway since they _were_ still heading the same direction.

About thirty minutes later, in which Nancy and Yue revealed to him a dizzying array of confections, sweets, flowers, and excessive amounts of pudding, it was time for them to leave.

"Take care of yourself, Kurapika." Nancy said with a kiss to his forehead. They got up, exchanged words last words Kuroro, and left.

Only a few minutes passed before he felt the presence of Kuroro take the seat next to his bed, his steps as silent as always.

"What do you want?" Kurapika asked. The conversation about his heritage was fresh on his mind, and it made it hard not to lash out.

"I thought you could use some entertainment being stuck here for the next few days." Kuroro said, and Kurapika could feel his smile. "It's not like you can watch TV or read."

"You're _not_ entertain-" He began heatedly before something was pressed into his palm. Curiously, Kurapika closed his fingers around it.

"_I_'_m_ not going to entertain you. See if you can figure out what this is."

The object in his palm was pretty heavy. It fit into his palm and seemed to be roughly box shaped.

"It's a box."

"Well, if it's a box, you should be able to open it."

Frowning, Kurapika ran his fingers, looking for the hinge to open it. It seemed to be made of wood, and his fingertips traced flowing designs, strange ridges, ribbed sides, and jutting corners.

"There's no opening." He suddenly felt silly. Was the opening actually very obvious? Was the other making fun of him for being blind? He was ready to chuck the heavy wooden object at the other in fury when the other spoke.

"That's because it's a puzzle box. You have to do a sequence of very specific events to make it open. Here." He took the box from Kurapika. It was a mystery to Kurapika how he opened it since he couldn't see, but he could hear the sound of sliding wood, of banging a certain side of the box to loosen a clicking mechanism, and the sound of cogs. What on earth? Then the box was put gently back into his hands, and sure enough, there was a part that flipped outward to expose a space on the inside of the box.

"The box's outside changed shape." He said in surprise. His hands stroked the outside, and it was no longer prism shaped but twisted the way a rubix cube was when not aligned properly.

"Ah ah. No cheating." The box was summarily taken away from him and the same sounds again, and the original perplexing box was dropped back in his lap.

"Where did you get this thing?" Kurapika asked curiously as he carefully mapped out the box again with his fingers.

There was just the slightest pause as if his question was unexpected, and Kurapika looked up at Kuroro even though he couldn't see the man.

"I don't know where it's from." The spider head said. "My parents gave it to me when I was very young."

"That's a lie, isn't it?" It was strange, Kurapika mused, that he felt so confident in calling out the other all of a sudden. Maybe it was through the course of the last few days that he learned how to read the spider, or maybe it was his blindness that allowed him to ignore his lying face and focus on the slight change in vocal intonation.

There was a surprised chuckle. Kurapika could hear the other shift a little in his seat and cross his arms. "You're right. It is." he admitted. "My parents never got a chance to give me anything. This was my favorite toy from when I was young though. It's from Meteor City." _Scavenged_ from Meteor City went the unspoken words.

Meteor City. Kurapika tried to imagine the city of the unwanted. A huge wasteland or junkyard that people lived in. He found it hard to imagine that the polished and sometimes gentlemanly spider came from such a place, even though it was rather common knowledge.

His fingers roved over the box again, and this time, he took note of the scratches in the box and a few well-worn patches that spoke both its the harsh treatment it endured and the loving, frequent use it got.

He wanted to ask the spider about Meteor City, but found his tongue inexplicably tied. Did he _really_ want to know? Meteor City meant no glamorous childhood. It meant hardship and pain. _Did_ he want to know that about his enemy? No, a scared voice in him said. Or at least, not yet, another voice said to help him feel less like a coward.

Bringing the box to his ear, he listened careful as he slowly rotated the box. There was no sound until halfway through, and then he heard something slide with a tiny tinking noise. He turned in the opposite direction, and the sliding noise went in the other direction. Keeping the orientation like that, he wiggled all the sides of the box and was surprised to feel a section of the box slide forward.

After that, it only took him another five minutes before the box was open.

"Very good." Kuroro commented when Kurapika handed him the box triumphantly. "I thought it would take you longer without your eyes. Some of the designs hint at the proper orientation. You can still feel them, but it's faster just by looking."

He reached down into his bag to put it away and pulled out another one. He dropped it into Kurapika's lap with a grin. "This one is more difficult."

-x-x-x-

Overall, Kuroro considered his plan a success. Kurapika was still prickly and defensive knowing he was vulnerable, but he was able to tolerate his presence as long as the other supplied him with puzzle boxes. He also knew that the blonde knew what he was doing, if the annoyed tilt of his head was any indication, but seemed to humor him. Kuroro wasn't sure though if that meant he realized the benefit of Kuroro's presence as a deterrent to Omokage's or if the other had simply accepted the fact that they were going to get on the same airship again in less than a week and it would be hard to explain his hostility away to Nancy and Yue.

He suspected it was the latter, but nonetheless, he considered his plan a success. Knowing the blonde, he was going to be bored out of his mind for five days with nothing to stimulate him. Listening to the radio or TV was an option, but it was a rather passive activity full of pointless drivel that Kuroro knew would serve to just annoy the blonde before long.

Kuroro himself loved puzzle boxes. Ever since he had found his first box buried in the piles of trash that made up Meteor City, he had been attracted to the fact that out of all his friends, he was the only one who figured out how to open it. They figured out when they were older, but at the time, it was a secret world only he could access in which he could put his belongings where no one could steal. It greatly appealed to him.

So he settled down in the corner of Kurapika's hospital room and watched over the rim of a book the blonde struggle to open the second box. Kuroro himself had a vast collection of boxes, but they were all stored in his Fun Fun Cloth which he was unable to access at present. He did, however, have a total of three that he happened to have kept in physical form before his powers were bound.

He smiled to himself. If the blonde had been able to see, he would have realized that the box he was tapping on all sides was a relic from an old civilization known as the Vyzintine. The top of the box had a beautifully painted motif of their way of life and was instantly recognizable to someone like Kurapika as worth _billions. _The painting had been glossed over with a clear layer of varnish, and so had no texture under the blonde's unknowing fingers.

The Kurta would likely be pissed out of principle for enjoying what was clearly a stolen object, but what he didn't know couldn't hurt him.

"Having difficulty?" He asked. Kurapika he could tell had gotten maybe a third of the way through the puzzle and was now stumped.

"Yes." There was no disappointment in his voice though, and he sounded pleasantly intrigued.

"Want a hint?" He already knew the answer.

"Absolutely not." The blonde looked scandalized at the thought. Kuroro watched slightly mesmerized as Kurapika's long and delicate fingers traced and stroked the edges of the box, looking for a hidden mechanism.

There was silence.

"Kurapika…" he considered if he should risk breaking the peace. "How long will your business take in Lukso?"

That got the Kurta's attention and he slowly lowered the puzzle box. He turned his bandaged head towards Kuroro and seemed eerily able to see him. "I fail entirely to see how that is relevant to you." As expected, the blonde's voice was filled with acid and the slightest hint of a threat.

"Again. This is for the sake of our mutual benefit." Kuroro stressed. He was, however, not quite as self-interested as he made himself out to be. "It is _highly_ probable that if Omokage does not make his move against one of us before your landing, he is almost certain to ambush you in Lukso. He _knows_ where your village is located."

"If you are telling me to abandon the trip in favor of hunting down Omokage, you are fighting a hopeless battle." Kurapika said icily. "Returning the eyes to Lukso is more important than regaining my own eyes." Kurapika picked up the puzzle again and attacked it fiercely, clearing trying to indicate the conversation was over.

"I'm not saying that." Kuroro said patiently. "I am willing to _accompany_ you to Lukso whilst Omokage still has your eyes. There will be no point if you die before I regain my nen."

A half-finished puzzle was suddenly and wildly chucked at him. Kurapika's aim was completely off likely due to a combination of blindness and sudden rage, but Kuroro dove to save the priceless artifact. What had come over the Kurta?! With one look he could tell that if the blonde still had his eyes, they would be _burning._

"You-!" Kurapika seemed to struggle to speak. Kuroro frowned when suddenly he realized it wasn't just explosive anger, but a choked _sob_ that was trying to crawl out of the blonde's throat that the other was forcefully repressing. Did he say something unreasonable?

"If you have," Kurapika said with quiet fury. "If you have _any_ respect. Any at all. For the Kurta, me, or yourself, you should know that you are. Not. Welcome." It seemed like the idea of returning home with the very man that had killed his clan tipped him over the edge. He _must_ be thinking right now of how his clansmen would have viewed his interaction with their murderer for the last few weeks and it was killing him. The blonde among the hospital white looked so emotionally wracked that something in Kuroro's heart twisted.

He hated the feeling, and he hated himself for having it at all. It seemed along with Kurapika's weakened physical state, his emotional reins were not as tight as they usually were. He didn't know how long the other had been suppressing an emotional breakdown, but he had the feeling that the Kurta had bottled and bottled his emotions without really letting himself just vent to relieve the feeling. He had gotten a taste of the other's pure rage and helplessness when he was first captured and Kurapika could barely restrain himself from beating against him with his bare fists.

"Just- just!" Kurapika was shaking and his fists were clenched, and Kuroro was met with the knowledge that _he_ was the cause of such pain and simply by merit of being who he was, he was unable to sooth the trembling form the way he admitted he dearly wanted. What _would_ make the blonde feel better?

Saying sorry was the normal route for conflicts, but there was _so much_ to the grudge, and Kuroro knew he wasn't really sorry anyway. He had done what he had done to the Kurta for a reason that even now he felt was justified. If he had to go back in time, he would do it all over again.

Chains appeared and their dangerous rattle filled the air. Kuroro stood stock still as Kurapika seemed to wonder if it was worth it to give him a physical taste of his emotions. As quickly as the chains appeared, however, they also disappeared, and Kurapika collapsed back into the blankets with a slight wheeze.

Kuroro made his decision then, and approached the blonde's bedside to take a seat. Kurapika was now 100% closed off and as impenetrable as a block of ice.

"It must be nice," Kuroro began in a slow monotone. "to think of the whole world as your fellow men and to know they would feel sadness if you die. In the same way, you would feel sadness for when they die."

Kuroro gently placed the puzzle box on the stand next to Kurapika's bed.

"I did not have such an alliance with the world. From the moment I was born in Meteor City, I was against the world, and the world was just as fervently if not more, against my own existence. They would rejoice if Meteor City just disappeared off the face of the earth with all its inhabitants. No tears would be shed for the millions of lives that fought for their right to even live. No one would care if the people of Meteor City were exploited, cheated, taken advantage of again and again. We were born unfit for your compassion."

He reached forward, adrenaline making his body feel on fire as he couldn't believe he was saying this. He turned Kurapika's face to him even though he knew there would be no eye contact.

"So I live in a world entirely different from yours, and the monsters are the faceless people who subjugate _my _people. If there's one thing you can understand, it's that I protect my own. At _any_ cost."

Then he was leaning in. Slowly. His fingers were fanned against Kurapika's cheek and he made _sure_ the other was aware. There was a slight hitch in Kurapika's breathing.

He paused just a hair's breath away from the Kurta's flushed face. When Kurapika didn't pull away, he went ahead and gave the blonde a soft, respectful kiss.

He only let it last a second even though the pounding blood in his raging bloodstream was demanding _more more more. _

"So I would like to accompany you to Lukso."

-x-x-x-

**Meep, I may have gotten a little derailed in this chapter, but OMG FIRST KISS. Plus trying to humanize Kuroro and making their interactions less about their circumstances and more about their potentially compatible personalities via puzzle boxes. More nervous about this chapter, but I've rewritten it about one and a half times and I'm braindead. xD Feedback appreciated!**


	9. The Wait

**Hey everyone! Just want to let you guys know that I'm sick right now. It was a long time coming in terms of anxiety with university and finally crashing. On meds and it was hard to finish this chapter even though I love this story so much. I feel like a zombie from fatigue even through I'm trying to stay busy. Just want to let you know that (and that I'll power through this story no matter what). As always, thank you so much for all the reviews, each and every one of them put a smile on my face. I haven't yet responded since I've been feeling down, but I always get around to it, so thank you ever so much! **

-x-x-x-

The kiss was _eerily respectful._

It was also just slightly moist. Warm. _Soft. _Strangely electric.

Most of all though, it was _respectful. _

In that mere moment that his mind threatened to go blank, he felt oddly treasured. Treasured like how a scholar might approach a groundbreaking new masterpiece. Not at all like treasure under a conquerer's possessive touch.

The tips of Kuroro's fingers on his jaw were a mere gentle guidance. He could have easily jerked his head away if he had wanted to.

He hadn't.

He had been stuck by the honesty he heard in the spider's words. So suddenly, he had been able to envision the world of Meteor City- could imagine the struggle against both the harsh realities of survival as well as the callous indifference from foreigners. Meteor City was a prostitute bought and paid for by the Mafia, and everyone adverted their eyes and hearts and withheld their compassion. Him included.

So when Kuroro's presence had drawn closer, and when he could _feel _the tension and the sheer attraction seeping from the older man… he had been unable to find it within him to reject his existence as well.

And when that respectful kiss left him stunned with its gentleness, he realized that… he didn't mind a kiss like that.

A kiss like that told him more than anything else, more than Pakunoda's sacrifice for this man… that he was very much a warm-blooded human and not quite a monster after all. What had the man asked right after? Oh right, he asked to accompany him to Lukso…

_He KILLED your family._

Kurapika trembled at the thought.

_Murdered them all. Children too. Your parents. Pairo. Not one spared. Family members killed and tortured in front of each other to bring out the brightest sheen of the Scarlet Eyes… you call that not quite a monster? _

"I-" Kurapika started. He had to hold on to his rage. He may have put plans of revenge behind him, but he would _not_ dishonor the memory of the Kurta by being cozy with the spider head. Or allow him to tread on the sacred ground of his people.

"Just think about it." Kuroro interrupted him. He must have seen the negatory feeling flash across Kurapika's face. "It's late, and I'm sure you're tired." He stood up smoothly and quickly.

The abandoned puzzle box was placed again in Kurapika's hands.

"I'll leave this with you. It's a genuine Vyzentine-made puzzle box. Try not to throw it again."

Kurapika wordlessly accepted the box back on autopilot. Their fingers brushed in his clumsiness to grasp the box fully, and Kurapika knew he didn't imagine the way it made his entire body tingle with hyper awareness. He wasn't blind in that way after all, and he knew the undercurrent of attraction when he felt it.

He had considered pretending what happened mere seconds ago didn't happen, but suddenly the thought of Kuroro leaving without them talking about it was unbearable.

"You _kissed _me." He exploded in emphasis. "What are you, _crazy?!" _

He could imagine the rueful smile as the other man responded, "I've been called far worse, but no, I don't believe so as I've rarely made a mistake in judgment." _Judging you was the worst I made. _

"What are you even _thinking? _Do you _even_ think? You can't have, or you'd know there would be consequences! I'll-"

"Consequences?" Kuroro's voice was amused and suddenly Kurapika was deathly afraid of what he might say. "There's no need to fool yourself, Kurapika. If I'm not in chains already, I won't be now." _You ALLOWED it. Liked it even. _There was a subtle challenge in his voice that had Kurapika bristling.

Kurapika clenched his fists and felt his nen surge to his fingertips and manifest themselves in his famous chains. He could do it. He could prove him wrong right now. It would be so easy. Kuroro was nenless. In fact, Kuroro wasn't doing _anything_ to protect himself. He just stood there. It would be so easy…

Kurapika ground his teeth so hard they almost hurt. His hands hurt too from gripping too hard. His mind felt like it was going to explode. He was a loaded gun, a coiled spring, and he realized he was balanced on the tip of an iceberg: ready to fall in any direction from needle-fine indecision.

"_I did not have such an alliance with the world. I was against the world, and the world was just as fervently if not more, against my own existence."_

Kuroro's words rung in his head…

Kurapika felt himself deflating like a balloon.

He slowly moved his fingers, disbelieving over the fact that his chains had dematerialized without his consent. Panic rose in him as he realized Kuroro was still there, and he was likely under the older's man sharp, scrutinizing gaze. The blindness now felt more crippling than ever. Every breath, every twitch of his facial muscles, every movement of his chains… it was all available for the spider to dissect.

"Out." He said that with the most controlled voice he could muster and he was proud to hear that there was hardly a tinge of the panic he felt. "Get out, I'm sure visiting hours are over." He retreated into a cold, polite shell and wore it like armor.

"Ahh yes they are." Kuroro's voice was bereft of any victory that Kurapika would have expected. It was back to being this nice, charming persona. There were the slightest noise of movement and picking bags from off the ground. A clink of something. "Have a good night."

Kurapika waited with bated breath for Kuroro to leave the room and a good five minutes afterwards before crumpling and burying his face in his hands.

What is _wrong _with him?! He was letting the spider head have far too much liberty. He went from fellow, distant passenger to someone he was now unable to extricate from his immediate life. And now, Kuroro had walked away unscathed after _kissing _him.

This was the man that caused his family's destruction, and Kurapika felt sick that he had to keep reminding himself of that fact. He shouldn't have to! The man was just _always _around and brought him puzzle boxes so he wouldn't be bored, and had good taste in music and books and culture… it was enough to make him forget every now and then, in longer periods of time each time, what the man was truly capable of.

It wasn't _fair._ Kurapika thought vehemently. Why did that damn spider have to be so damn greedy and murderous? In all other aspects, he was a normal human being, a scholarly and charming individual that Kurapika realized were _good_ qualities that he wished more people had. He was someone under different circumstances Kurapika would not have minded being friends with. Hell, the mutual _physical_ attraction was clear enough from the beginning…

He was momentarily distracted as he shifted around in bed to try and find a more comfortable position and his fingers brushed over the wooden puzzle box that had fallen beside his lap. Picking it up, he remembered what Kuroro had said. _Vyzintine, huh? _This puzzle box must be worth billions if not tens of billions of jennys and yet the man had seen fit to leave it with him? He gently mapped out the box again with his hands with new appreciation before he realized it was likely a stolen good.

Disgusted with both Kuroro and himself, he placed the box on the side on the nightstand. He wouldn't touch it anymore.

He was busy after all. He had the whole night to ponder over the other man's personal morality and why he found it so easy to kill. To _him_ these faceless apathetic people were the monsters, and even though Kurapika knew the man was wrong, it still followed a logic of sorts_._ It wasn't just psychopathy or uncontrollable bloodlust… original characteristics Kurapika thought applied to all members of the Ryodan.

Kuroro was right though: if there was one thing Kurapika agreed with, it was protecting your own. That's why he tries so hard to honor his clan after all. _That, _he knew, he would _never_ be able to begrudge the other for.

-x-x-x-

When Kurapika woke up the next morning, he was met with blessed peace and quiet. A nurse had come in for maybe five minutes to tell him his fever was nearly gone and all that remained was to gather his strength through rest. Besides that, Kurapika was rather relieved that Kuroro was not here to frazzle his nerves and that Nancy and Yue weren't either so he wouldn't feel the need to be happy and optimistic for their sake.

He was almost sure that they would appear sometime in the afternoon, but until then, Kurapika was thankful for the reprieve.

Now if only the puzzle box would stop taunting him.

Whenever Kurapika reached out with his nen to test how long he could hold it and still control it (it was finally getting back into the hours range) he could _feel_ the nen of the puzzle box.

It wasn't Kuroro's nen, he could tell that much easily enough. No, the beautiful wood gave off a nen that must have been its maker's. It was strange, but Kurapika could feel _emotions_ of that nen. Nen after death was considered to be the strongest nen of all, and whoever had carved and designed this box back in the Vyzintine times had been tremendously wistful, talented, sad, and in love at the same time.

The aura indicated that the creator had made it for someone special, and someone of perhaps nobility if the sheer extravagance and quality wood was to be believed. It also spoke of a deep loss and pain, and the wooden box just _begged_ to be opened- like a catharsis for its designer's feelings.

Kurapika just tried to focus on the calming nen of the flowers beside him instead.

An hour later, the box had still not stopped bothering him, and the flowers were starting to wilt. He then practiced getting in and out of bed and walking around by himself. He took a shower, he experimented with chain designs (squares, then triangles, and finally stars), and he tried to use his nen to get a layout of the room without too much success. He even tried to listen to the TV, but he had tried to change the channel and blindly trying to operate a remote resulted in him getting stuck on some menu page or other and he couldn't find his way back.

By the time it was lunch, he was bored and irritated, and simply craved the challenge of wood under his fingertips.

After lunch, he gave up, cursed himself, and attacked the puzzle box with all his pent up frustration at _everything. _

An hour flew by and with a soft exhale of triumph, he heard the box click open…

It happened so fast.

He was assaulted with the feeling of _pain pain pain._ He recoiled as nen wildly spiked and he was drowning in anguish and excruciating sorrow. It was over in a flash, although it may as well have lasted an eternity.

Then he was shaking harder than ever before, for the box's own nen had been veiling what lie within. He could only feel tears rise to his eyes as his trembling fingers touched the cool glass that housed a pair of his clan's Scarlet Eyes.

-x-x-x-

It took Kurapika far longer than he cared to admit to compose himself and starting drawing a few conclusions. Without doubt, he recognized the nen of the pair of eyes: it was the pair that he had bid on in the Yorknew Auction… it was the pair given to his boss, Neon… the pair that had disappeared into thin air. It seemed to have been taken out if its bulky container and put into a slim, liquid-filled tube.

And now it was in front of him. _That's seven pairs now._

How had the spider gotten hold of it? Kurapika found he didn't care. The real question was… why had Kuroro given it to him? The question burned through him and he felt restless and stir-crazy not knowing why. Emotional blackmail? Possible, but unlikely due to the manner it was given to him. He was unable to come up with other nefarious reasons why the spider might have given him something so precious and cherished. That left only the non-nefarious ones…

He gripped the small glass vial tightly, resisting the urge to hug it close to himself. It was amazing how much this changed things. One minute he was dreading the inevitable arrival of Kuroro and now he was impatiently waiting with _keen_ anticipation.

He needed to talk to the man. Absolutely as soon as possible.

-x-x-x-

When Nancy opened Kurapika's hospital door, the boy had snapped his head so fast in her direction she feared he would twist his head clean off. His brow furrowed for a brief moment, and Nancy had a hunch he was doing that _Nen_ thing.

Her thoughts were confirmed when before she or Yue had a chance to say anything, he greeted them both by name and a smile. She didn't miss the way his face fell in the slightest hint of disappointment though. It seemed like he was expecting someone else. She gave Yue a meaningful look though the other just rolled her eyes.

"Kurapika! How are you feeling today?" She bustled closer to take a seat in one of the chairs next to his bed and critically eyed the young man. He seemed more energetic today, that was for sure. His hand was tapping a rhythm into the blankets and he didn't seem to notice at all. The other hand was busy tracing the edges of a wooden puzzle box she recognized as belonging to Kuroro. The color had made it back on his face as well. Hmm, much better! She nodded approvingly to herself. Yue settled into the other chair and took out her phone to fiddle with. Her bedside manner was never very good…

"I'm doing great Nancy-san." Kurapika responded to her. The boy was always so polite it sometimes was just too much. She could occasionally get him to call her just Nancy, but sometimes it seemed he forgot and just reverted back to his usual customs.

"That's great to hear, dear." she told him. "So what have you been up to? Hospitals can be awfully boring and I'm so sorry that we can't visit for long. We were roped into the investigation as witnesses. Luckily, Lucifer is keeping the wolves off of you." Really, despite his name, the boy was a saint.

"Oh a little of this and that." Kurapika answered. Was it just her or was the boy extremely distracted? "I listened to some TV and I can start walking a little bit now." He elaborated. "Oh, and don't worry about visiting, I know you're busy and we'll have more time to spend on the next airship."

"Yes, that's true." She eyed the boy contemplatively. She didn't have any kids herself, but she thought she had a pretty good sense when little rascals weren't telling the complete truth. Her eyes fell on the puzzle box. "Make any headway with that puzzle? Kuroro showed us in the lobby the other day. He was pretty excited to show them to you. I just think he likes to see us struggle with them."

"Oh?" She now heard a spark of interest. "Have you seen him recently?"

Yue shot her a disbelieving look and Nancy had to repress a smirk.

"Not today I'm afraid." She said, amused. Really kids these days. "Are you expecting him to visit today as well?"

Kurapika shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know." he said nonchalantly. "I have to give him this puzzle back. I've finished it."

"Of course the nerd finished it." Yue said with a wide grin. "Only you would like such a blasted thing!"

"I enjoy them." Kurapika said rather reluctantly.

"You and Lucifer are pretty similar in some ways." Nancy decided to tease.

Yue snorted. "You think all young people are alike. Well I personally think you two are like night and day."

The conversation continued on. Nancy confirmed that Kurapika was extremely distracted. Whenever footsteps sounded outside from doctors, nurses, or patients, Kurapika would always jolt a little in the direction of the door with a look of concentration. It only happened in milliseconds, but Nancy nonetheless noticed. He _definitely _was eagerly awaiting someone and Nancy would bet all her money on Lucifer. Honestly, this was a welcome change. For most of the trip, Nancy had detected a slight tension between her two favorite fellow passengers. Lucifer seemed to easily get under the other boy's skin and while it was occasionally amusing to watch, it also tired her out. The seemed oddly competitive, whether it was chess or simple conversations, and it would be nice to see them get along. She did, however, think the blonde boy was finally warming up to the older one, and that in turn warmed her own heart. She had a good feeling about the two of them.

"Alright, cripple." Yue said with her usual tactless teasing, "We need to get going. We have another interview in an hour." She checked her watch and nodded.

"We'll come visit again, Kurapika!" Nancy promised as she gathered her things. "I enjoyed chatting with you. I hope you feel better soon!"

"Thanks for visiting." She detected a note of genuine gratefulness and she smiled at him even though he wouldn't be able to see.

"Of course." She said fondly. The boy had been through so much, it was the least she could do. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

With that, Yue motioned to her, and they filed out of Kurapika's room.

Perhaps it was a premonition or just a simple gut feeling, but she was entirely unsurprised to see Lucifer sitting in the hospital cafeteria nursing a coffee and a book, apparently waiting for them.

"Ahh." He said with a sweet smile as they neared. "Just the people I wanted to see. How is he?" He folded his book closed and gestured for them to take seats.

"He's tough, he's doing better." Yue answered. With a sigh, she waved away Lucifer's offer to sit. "We can't stay long, we have interrogations to go to." She grinned at him. "I have no idea how you managed to finish yours so quickly, considering you're probably all witnesses talk about."

Nancy thought the smile Lucifer returned was the slightest bit smug. "I have a good relationship with the police. Always have." Was all he said on that matter. "So tell me more about Kurapika."

"Why don't you just visit him yourself?" Nancy asked.

"I have a feeling he wants to be alone for a while." Lucifer said. Nancy disagreed, it seemed like Kurapika was dying to see him. "He's pretty independent, he probably wants some time to deal with his blindness in his own way."

Well that made sense, so Nancy just nodded. "He's finished that puzzle box, by the way. He really likes it, won't stop playing with it."

"Oh has he?" Lucifer's gaze sharpened and he seemed to be lost in thought at the same time. "That's sooner than I thought." he said softly.

"Well you know Kurapika." Nancy said with a smile. "Anyway, we really have to get going. It's nice talking to you. Visit Kurapika soon though!"

Kuroro smiled at the two ladies as they quickly bustled out of the cafeteria and into the lobby. So Kurapika finished the puzzle. He knew the nen hidden inside the box would attract and compel the blonde closer before long, but the speed with which the box was opened.. that was surprising. The Kurta was likely brimming with questions and conflicting feelings. Good.

Kuroro opened up his book and began reading with a pleased, satisfied feeling in his gut.

Good. Now to let the blonde stew for a few days.

-x-x-x-

**This chapter was a little bit shorter than the other ones (usually my chapters get longer and longer by far) but this was the best place to end it and I felt enough happened this chapter. But yeah! Kuroro being so sideways **_**nice**_** to Kurapika always makes me really happy to imagine. He wouldn't be himself though, if it also wasn't a tad calculated and planned out. xDD**


End file.
